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W  OTHSJl  WORLDS 


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Tlie  Ciillisto  and  I  lie  eiMuet, 


(Page  145.) 


A  JOURNEY 
IN    OTHER   WORLDS 

A   ROMANCE  OF   THE  FUTURE 


BY 

JOHN  JACOB   ASTOR 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW    YORK 
D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY 

1894 


»^-  eA 


Copyright,  1894, 
By  D.   APPLETON  AND  COMPANY. 


Electrotyped  and  Printed 

AT  THE  APPLETON  PreSS,  U.  S.  A. 


OTof  ft" 

A  ^ 


PREFACE 


The  protracted  struggle  between  science  and  the 
classics  appears  to  be  drawing  to  a  close,  with  victory 
about  to  perch  on  the  banner  of  science,  as  a  perusal 
of  almost  any  university  or  college  catalogue  shows. 
While  a  limited  knowledge  of  both  Greek  and  Latin 
is  important  for  the  correct  use  of  our  own  language, 
the  amount  till  recently  required,  in  my  judgment, 
has  been  absurdly  out  of  proportion  to  the  intrinsic 
value  of  these  branches,  or  perhaps  more  correctly 
roots,  of  study.  The  classics  have  been  thoroughly 
and  painfully  threshed  out,  and  it  seems  impossible 
that  anything  new  can  be  unearthed.  We  may  equal 
the  performances  of  the  past,  but  there  is  no  oppor- 
tunity to  surpass  them  or  produce  anything  original. 
Even  the  much-vaunted  "  mental  training  "  argument 

is  beginning  to  pall ;  for  would  not  anything  equally 

(iii) 


iv  PREFACE. 

difficult  give  as  good  developing  results,  while  by 
learniufi:  a  live  matter  we  kill  two  birds  with  one 
stone  ?  There  can  be  no  question  that  there  are  many 
forces  and  influences  in  Xature  whose  existence  we  as 
yet  little  more  than  suspect.  How  much  more  inter- 
esting it  would  be  if,  instead  of  reiterating  our  past 
achievements,  the  magazines  and  literature  of  the 
period  should  devote  their  consideration  to  what  we 
do  not  know  !  It  is  only  through  investigation  and 
research  that  inventions  come ;  we  may  not  find  what 
we  are  in  search  of,  but  may  discover  something  of 
perhaps  greater  moment.  It  is  proljable  that  the 
principal  glories  of  the  future  will  be  found  in  as 
yet  but  little  trodden  paths,  and  as  Prof.  Cortlandt 
justly  says  at  the  close  of  his  history,  "  Next  to  re- 
ligion, we  have  most  to  hope  from  science." 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK  I. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I. — Jupiter 3 

II. — Antecedental 17 

III. — President  Bearwarden's  speech       .        .        .        .20 
IV. — Prof.  Cortlandt's  historical  sketch  of  the  world 

IN  A.  D.  2000 34 

V. — Dr.  Cortlandt's  history  continued  .        .        .        .52 

VI. — Far-reaching  plans 80 

VII. — Hard  at  work 95 

VIIL— Good-bye 109 


BOOK  II. 

I. — The  last  of  the  earth 
II. — Space  and  Mars  . 
III. — Heavenly  bodies  . 
IV. — Preparing  to  alight  . 
V. — Exploration  and  excitement 
VI. — Mastodon  and  Will-o'-the-wisp 
VII. — An  unseen  hunter 
VIII. — Sportsmen's  reveries  . 
IX. — The  honey  of  death   . 
X. — Changing  landscapes  . 


121 
130 
144 
155 
162 
172 
186 
195 
207 
220 


(V) 


VI 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER 

PAGE 

XL— A  Jovian  Niagara 233 

XII.— Hills  and  valleys 247 

XIII.— North-polar  discoveries 266 

XIV.— TUE   SCENE   SHIFTS 281 

BOOK   III. 

I.— Satl'rn  . 299 

II.— The  spirit's  first  visit 

.  310 

III.— Doubts  and  philosophy 

.  328 

IV.— A  providential  intervention     . 

.  339 

v.— Ayrault's  vision  .... 

.  347 

VI.— A    GREAT    void   AND    A    GREAT    LONGING 

.  353 

VII. — The  spirit's  second  visit    . 

.  373 

VIII.— Cassandra  and  cosmology  . 

.  387 

IX.— Dr.  Cortlandt  sees  his  grave  . 

.  410 

X.~Ayrault 

.  421 

XL— Dreamland  to  shadowland 

.  431 

XIL— Sueol 

.  442 

XIIL— The  priest's  sermon     ... 

.  450 

XIV. — IIic  ille  jacet      .... 

.  458 

XV.— Mother  Earth      .... 

.  471 

LIST   OF  ILLUSTKATIOIS^S, 

INCLUDING  NINE  DRAWINGS  BY  MR.   DAN.   BEARD, 
AND  A  DIAGRAM. 


FACING 
PAGE 


The  Callisto  and  the  Comet  ....       Frontispiece 

The  Callisto  was  going  straight  up 115 

The  Signals  from  the  Arctic  Circle 127 

Diagram  of  the  Comparative  Sizes  of  the  Planets      .        .  155 

The  Ride  on  the  Giant  Tortoise 190 

A  Battle  Royal  on  Jupiter 208 

The  Combat  with  the  Dragons 342 

Ayrault's  Vision 350 

They  look  into  the  Future 414 

The  Return 474 


BOOK    I. 


(1) 


A   JUUKiNi^l    iiN    OTHER   WORLDS, 


CHAPTER  I. 

JUPITER. 

Jupiter — the  magnificent  planet  with  a  diameter 
of  86,500  miles,  having  119  times  the  surface  and 
1,300  times  the  volume  of  the  earth— lay  beneath 
them. 

They  had  often  seen  it  in  the  terrestrial  sky,  emit- 
ting its  strong,  steady  ray,  and  had  thought  of  that 
far-away  planet,  about  which  till  recently  so  little 
had  been  known,  and  a  burning  desire  had  possessed 
them  to  go  to  it  and  explore  its  mysteries.  Now, 
thanks  to  apergy^  the  force  whose  existence  the  an- 
cients suspected,  but  of  which  they  knew  so  little, 
all  things  were  possible. 

Ayrault  manipulated  the  silk-covered  glass  han- 
dles, and  the  Callisto  moved  on  slowly  in  comparison 

(3) 


4  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 

with  its  recent  speed,  and  all  remained  glued  to  their 
telescopes  as  they  peered  through  the  rushing  clouds, 
now  forming  and  now  dissolving  before  their  eyes. 
AVhat  transports  of  delight,  what  ecstatic  bliss,  was 
theirs !  Men  had  discovered  and  mastered  the  se- 
cret of  apergy,  and  now,  ''  little  lower  than  the 
angels,"  they  could  soar  through  space,  leaving  even 
planets  and  comets  behind. 

"Is  it  not  strange,"  said  Dr.  Cortlandt,  "that 
though  it  has  been  known  for  over  a  century  that 
bodies  charged  with  unlike  electricities  attract  one 
another,  and  those  charged  with  like  repel,  no  one 
thought  of  utilizing  the  counterpart  of  gravitation  ? 
In  the  nineteenth  century,  savants  and  Indian  jug- 
glers performed  experiments  with  their  disciples 
and  masses  of  inert  matter,  by  causing  them  to 
remain  without  visible  support  at  some  distance  from 
the  ground ;  and  while  many  of  these,  of  course, 
were  quacks,  some  were  on  the  right  track,  though 
they  did  not  push  their  research." 

President  Bearw^arden  and  Ayrault  assented. 
They  were  steering  for  an  apparently  hard  part  of 
the  planet's  surface,  about  a  degree  and  a  half  north 
of  its  equator. 


JUPITER. 


"  Since  Jupiter's  axis  is  almost  at  right  angles  to 
the  plane  of  its  orbit,"  said  the  doctor,  "  being  in- 
clined only  about  one  degree  and  a  half,  instead  of 
nearly  twenty-three  and  a  half,  as  was  the  earth's  till 
so  recently,  it  will  be  possible  for  us  to  have  any  cli- 
mate we  wish,  from  constantly  warm  at  the  equator 
to  constantly  cool  or  cold  as  we  approach  the  poles, 
without  being  troubled  by  extremes  of  winter  and 
summer." 

Until  the  Callisto  entered  the  planet's  atmosphere, 
its  live  moons  appeared  like  silver  shields  against 
the  black  sky,  but  now  things  were  looking  more 
terrestrial,  and  they  began  to  feel  at  home.  Bear- 
warden  put  down  his  note-book,  and  Ayrault  re- 
turned a  photograph  to  his  pocket,  while  all  three 
gazed  at  their  new  abode.  Beneath  them  was  a  vast 
continent  variegated  by  chains  of  lakes  and  rivers 
stretching  away  in  all  directions  except  toward  the 
equator,  where  lay  a  placid  ocean  as  far  as  their  tele- 
scopes could  pierce.  To  the  eastward  were  towering 
and  massive  mountains,  and  along  the  southern  bor- 
der of  the  continent  smoking  volcanoes,  while  to- 
ward the  west  they  saw  forests,  gently  rolling  plains, 
and  table-lands  that  would  have  satisfied  a  poet  or 


6  A  JOCRNEY  IX   OTHER  WORLDS. 

set  an  agriculturist's  heart  at  rest.  "  How  I  should 
like  to  mine  those  hills  for  copper,  or  drain  the 
swamps  to  the  south ! "  exclaimed  Col.  Bearwarden. 
"  The  Lake  Superior  mines  and  the  reclamation  of  the 
Florida  Everglades  would  be  nothing  to  this." 

''Any  inhabitants  we  may  find  here  have  so 
much  land  at  their  disposal  that  they  will  not  need 
to  drain  swamps  on  account  of  pressure  of  population 
for  some  time,"  put  in  the  doctor. 

"I  hope  we  may  find  some  four-legged  inhabit- 
ants," said  Ayrault,  thinking  of  their  explosive  maga- 
zine rifles.  "  If  Jujnter  is  passing  through  its  Jurassic 
or  Mesozoic  period,  there  must  be  any  amount  of 
some  kind  of  game."  Just  then  a  quiver  shook  the 
Callisto,  and  glancing  to  the  right  they  noticed  one  of 
the  volcanoes  in  violent  eruption.  Smoke  filled  the 
air  in  clouds,  hot  stones  and  then  floods  of  lava  poured 
from  the  crater,  while  even  the  walls  of  the  hermet- 
ically sealed  Callisto  could  not  arrest  the  thunderous 
crashes  that  made  the  interior  of  the  car  resound. 

"  Had  we  not  l)etter  move  on  ? "  said  Bearwarden, 
and  accordingly  they  ^vent  toward  the  woods  they 
had  first  seen.  Finding  a  firm  strip  of  land  l)etween 
the   forest    and    an    arm    of   the    sea,    they   gently 


JUPITER.  7 

grounded  the  Callisto,  and  not  being  altogether  sure 
liow  the  atmosphere  of  their  new  abode  would  suit 
terrestrial  lungs,  or  what  its  pressure  to  the  square 
inch  might  be,  they  cautiously  opened  a  port-hole  a 
crack,  retaining  their  hold  upon  it  with  its  screw. 
Instantly  there  was  a  rush  and  a  whistling  sound  as 
of  escaping  steam,  while  in  a  few  moments  their 
barometer  stood  at  thirty-six  inches,  whereupon  they 
closed  the  opening. 

"I  fancy,"  said  Dr.  Cortlandt,  ''we  had  better 
wait  now  till  we  become  accustomed  to  this  pressure. 
I  do  not  believe  it  will  go  much  higher,  for  the 
window  made  but  little  resistance  when  we  shut  it." 

Finding  they  were  not  inconvenienced  by  a  pres- 
sure but  little  greater  than  that  of  a  deep  coal-mine, 
they  again  opened  the  port,  whereupon  their  barome- 
ter showed  a  further  rise  to  forty-two,  and  then  re- 
mained stationary.  Finding  also  that  the  chemical 
composition  of  the  air  suited  them,  and  that  they  had 
no  difficulty  in  breathing,  the  pressure  being  the 
same  as  that  sustained  by  a  diver  in  fourteen  feet  of 
water,  they  opened  a  door  and  emerged.  They  knew 
fairly  well  what  to  expect,  and  were  not  disturbed  by 
their  new  conditions.     Though  they  had  apparently 


S  A  JOURNEY   IX   OTHER   WORLDS. 

gained  a  good  deal  in  weight  as  a  result  of  their 
ethereal  journey,  this  did  not  incommode  them ;  for 
though  Jupiter's  volume  is  thirteen  hundred  times  that 
of  the  earth,  on  account  of  its  lesser  specific  gravity,  it 
has  but  three  hundred  times  the  mass — i.  e.,  it  would 
weigh  but  three  hundred  times  as  much.  Further, 
although  a  cubic  foot  of  water  or  anything  else 
weighs  2*5  as  much  as  on  earth,  objects  near 
the  equator,  on  account  of  Jupiter's  rapid  rotation, 
weigh  one  fifth  less  than  they  do  at  the  poles, 
by  reason  of  the  centrifugal  force.  Influenced  by 
this  fact,  and  also  because  they  were  483,000,000 
miles  from  the  sun,  instead  of  92,000,000  as  on 
earth,  they  had  steered  f(jr  the  northern  limit  of 
Jupiter's  tropics.  And,  in  addition  to  this,  they 
could  easily  apply  the  apergetic  power  in  any  degree 
to  themselves  when  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Callisto, 
and  so  be  attracted  to  any  extent,  from  twice  the  pull 
they  receive  from  gravitation  on  earth  to  almost 
nothing. 

Bearwarden  and  Ayrault  shouldered  their  rifles, 
while  Dr.  Cortlandt  took  a  repeating  shot-gun  with 
No.  4  shot,  and,  having  also  some  hunting-knives  and 
a  sextant,  all   three  set  out   in  a  noi'thwesterlv  direc- 


JUPITER.  9 

tion.  The  ground  was  rather  soft,  and  a  warm  vapor 
seemed  to  rise  from  it.  To  the  east  the  sky  was 
veiled  by  dense  clouds  of  smoke  from  the  towering 
volcanoes,  while  on  their  left  the  forest  seemed  to 
extend  without  limit.  Clumps  of  huge  ferns  were 
scattered  about,  and  the  ground  was  covered  with 
curious  tracks. 

"  Jupiter  is  evidently  passing  through  a  Carbon- 
iferous or  Devonian  period  such  as  existed  on  earth, 
though,  if  consistent  with  its  size,  it  should  be  on 
a  vastly  larger  scale,"  said  the  doctor.  "  1  never 
beheved  in  the  theory,"  he  continued,  "  that  the 
larger  the  planet  the  smaller  should  be  its  inhabit- 
ants, and  always  considered  it  a  makeshift,  put  for- 
ward in  the  absence  of  definite  knowledge,  the  idea 
being  apparently  that  the  weight  of  very  large  crea- 
tures would  be  too  great  for  their  strength.  Of  the 
fact  that  mastodons  and  creatures  far  larger  than  any 
now  living  on  earth  existed  there,  we  have  absolute 
proof,  though  gravitation  must  have  been  practically 
the  same  then  as  now." 

Just  here  they  came  upon  a  number  of  huge 
bones,  evidently  the  remains  of  some  saurian,  and 
many  times   the   size   of    a    grown    crocodile.      On 


10  A   JOURNEY   IX  OTHER    WORLDS. 

passing  a  growth  of  most  luxuriant  vegetation,  they 
saw  a  half-dozen  sacklike  objects,  and  drawing 
nearer  noticed  that  the  tops  began  to  swell,  and  at 
the  same  time  became  lighter  in  colour.  Just  as  the 
doctor  was  about  to  investigate  one  of  them  with 
his  duck-shot,  the  enormously  inflated  to])S  of  the 
creatures  collapsed  with  a  loud  report,  and  the  entire 
group  soared  away,  AVhen  about  to  alight,  forty 
yards  off,  they  distended  membranous  folds  in  the 
manner  of  wings,  which  checked  their  descent,  and 
on  touching  the  ground  remained  where  they  were 
without  rebound. 

''We  expected  to  find  all  kinds  of  reptiles  and 
birds,"  exclaimed  the  doctor.  "  But  I  do  not  know 
how  we  should  class  those  creatures.  They  seem  to 
have  pneumatic  feet  and  legs,  for  their  motion  was 
certainly  not  produced  like  that  of  frogs." 

When  the  party  came  up  with  them  the  heads 
again  began  to  swell. 

''  I  will  perforate  the  air-chamber  of  one,''  said 
Col.  Bearwarden,  withdrawing  the  explosive  car- 
tridjre  from  the  barrel  of  his  rifle  and  substitutinfi: 
one  with  a  solid  ball.  "  This  will  doubtless  disable 
one  so  that  we  can  examine  it." 


JUPITER.  11 

Just  as  they  were  about  to  rise,  lie  shot  the 
largest  through  the  neck.  All  but  the  wounded  one 
soared  off,  while  Bearwarden,  Ayrault,  and  Cortlandt 
approached  to  examine  it  more  closely. 

"  You  see,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  this  vertebrate — for 
that  is  as  definitely  as  we  can  yet  describe  it — forces 
a  great  pressure  of  air  into  its  head  and  neck,  which, 
by  the  action  of  valves,  it  must  allow  to  rush  into  its 
very  rudimentary  lower  extremities,  distending  them 
with  such  violence  that  the  body  is  shot  upward  and 
forward.  You  may  have  noticed  the  tightly  inflated 
portion  underneath  as  they  left  the  ground." 

While  speaking  he  had  moved  rather  near,  when 
suddenly  a  partially  concealed  mouth  opened,  show- 
ing the  unmistakable  tongue  and  fangs  of  a  serpent. 
It  emitted  a  hissing  sound,  and  the  small  eyes  gleamed 
maliciously. 

"Do  you  believe  it  is  a  poisonous  species?" 
asked  Ayrault. 

"  I  suspect  it  is,"  replied  the  doctor ;  "  for,  though 
it  is  doubtless  able  to  leap  with  great  accuracy  upon 
its  prey,  we  saw  it  took  some  time  to  recharge  the 
upper  air-chamber,  so  that,  were  it  not  armed  with 
poison  glands,  it  would  fall  an  easy  victim  to  its  more 


12  A  JOURNEY   IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

powerful  and  swifter  contemporaries,  and  would  soon 
become  extinct." 

"  As  it  will  be  unable  to  spring  for  some  time," 
said  Bearwarden,  ''  we  might  as  well  save  it  the  dis- 
appointment of  trying,"  and,  snapping  the  used  shell 
from  his  rifle,  he  fired  an  explosive  ball  into  the 
reptile,  whereupon  about  half  the  body  disappeared, 
wliile  a  sickening  odour  arose.  Although  the  sun 
was  still  far  above  the  liorizon,  the  rapidity  with 
which  it  was  descending  showed  that  the  short 
night  of  less  than  five  hours  would  soon  be  upon 
them ;  and  though  short  it  might  be  very  dark, 
for  they  were  in  the  tropics,  and  the  sun,  going 
down  perpendicularly,  must  also  pass  completely 
around  the  globe,  instead  of,  as  in  northern  latitudes 
on  earth  in  summer,  approaching  the  horizon  ob- 
liquely, and  not  going  far  below  it.  A  slight  and 
diffused  sound  here  seemed  to  rise  from  the  ground 
all  about  them,  for  which  they  could  not  account. 
Presently  it  became  louder,  and  as  the  sun  touched 
tlie  liorizon,  it  poured  forth  in  prolonged,  strains. 
The  large  trumpet-shaped  lilies,  reeds,  and  helio- 
tropes seemed  fairly  to  throb  as  they  raised  their 
anthem  to  the  sky  and  the   setting   sun,  while   the 


JUPITER.  13 

air  grew  dark  with  clouds  of  birds  that  gradually 
alighted  on  the  ground,  until,  as  the  chorus  grew 
fainter  and  gradually  ceased,  they  flew  back  to  their 
nests.  The  three  companions  had  stood  astonished 
while  this  act  was  played.  The  doctor  then 
spoke : 

"  This  is  the  most  marvellous  development  of 
I^ature  I  have  seen,  for  its  wonderful  divergence 
from,  and  yet  analogy  to,  what  takes  place  on  earth. 
You  know  our  flowers  oifer  honey,  as  it  were,  as 
bait  to  insects,  that  in  eating  or  collecting  it  they 
may  catch  the  pollen  on  their  legs  and  so  carry  it  to 
other  flowers,  perhaps  of  the  opposite  sex.  Here 
flowers  evidently  appeal  to  the  sense  of  hearing 
instead  of  taste,  and  make  use  of  birds,  of  which 
there  are  enormous  numbers,  instead  of  winged 
insects,  of  which  I  have  seen  none,  one  being  per- 
haps the  natural  result  of  the  other.  The  flowers 
have  become  singers  by  long  practice,  or  else,  those 
that  were  most  musical  having  had  the  best  chance  to 
reproduce,  we  have  a  neat  illustration  of  the  ^  survival 
of  the  fittest.'  The  sound  is  doubtless  produced  by 
a  shrinking  of  the  fibres  as  the  sun  withdraws  its 
heat,  in  which  case  we  may  expect  another  song  at 


14:  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER   WORLDS. 

sunrise,  when  the  same  result  will  be  effected  by 
their  expanding." 

Searching  for  a  camping-place  in  which  to  pass 
the  coming  hours,  they  saw  lights  flitting  about 
like  will-o'-the-wisps,  but  brighter  and  intermittent. 

"  They  seem  to  be  as  bright  as  sixteen-candle- 
power  lamps,  but  the  light  is  yellower,  and  appears 
to  emanate  from  a  comparatively  large  surface,  cer- 
tainly nine  or  ten  inches  square,"  said  the  doctor. 

They  soon  gave  up  the  chase,  however,  for  the 
lights  were  continually  moving  and  frequently  went 
out.  While  groping  in  the  growing  darkness,  they 
came  upon  a  brown  object  about  the  size  of  a  small 
dog  and  close  to  the  ground.  It  flew  off  wuth  a 
humming  insect  sound,  and  as  it  did  so  it  showed 
the  brilliant  phosphorescent  glow  they  had  observed. 

"  That  is  a  good-sized  flre-fly,"  said  Bearwarden. 
"  Evidently  the  insects  here  are  on  the  same  scale 
as  everything  else.  They  are  like  the  fire-flies  in 
Cuba,  which  the  Cubans  are  said  to  put  into  a  glass 
box  and  get  light  enough  from  to  read  by.  Here 
they  would  need  only  one,  if  it  could  be  induced  to 
give  its  light  continuously." 

Having   found  an  open  space   on   high  ground, 


JUPITER.  15 

they  sat  down,  and  Bear  warden  struck  his  repeater, 
which,  for  convenience,  had  been  arranged  for 
Jupiter  time,  dividing  the  day  into  ten  hours, 
beginning  at  noon,  midnight  being  therefore  five 
o'clock. 

"  Twenty  minutes  past  four,"  said  he,  "  which 
would  correspond  to  about  a  quarter  to  eleven  on 
earth.  As  the  sun  rises  at  half -past  seven,  it  will  be 
dark  about  three  hours,  for  the  time  between  dawn 
and  daylight  will,  of  course,  be  as  short  as  that  we 
have  just  experienced  between  sunset  and  night." 

"  If  we  stay  here  long,"  said  the  doctor,  "  I  sup- 
pose we  shall  become  accustomed,  like  sailors,  to  tak- 
ing our  four,  or  in  this  case  five,  hours  on  duty,  and 
five  hours  off." 

"  Or,"  added  Ayrault,  "  we  can  sleep  ten  consecu- 
tive hours  and  take  the  next  ten  for  exploring  and 
hunting,  having  the  sun  for  one  half  the  time  and  the 
moons  for  the  other." 

Bearwarden  and  Cortlandt  now  rolled  themselves 
in  their  blankets  and  were  soon  asleep,  while  Ayrault, 
whose  turn  it  was  to  watch  till  the  moons  rose — for 
they  had  not  yet  enough  confidence  in  their  new  do- 
main to  sleep  in  darkness  simultaneously — leaned  his 


16  A  JOURNEY  IN    OTHER  WORLDS. 

back  against  a  rock  and  lighted  his  pipe.  In  the  dis- 
tance he  saw  the  torrents  of  fiery  lava  from  the  vol- 
canoes reflected  in  the  sky,  and  faintly  heard  their 
thunderous  crashes,  while  the  fire-flies  twinkled  uncon- 
cernedly in  the  hollow,  and  the  night  winds  swayed 
the  fernlike  branches.  Then  he  gazed  at  the  earth, 
which,  but  little  above  the  horizon,  shone  with  a  faint 
but  steady  ray,  and  his  mind's  eye  ran  beyond  his 
natural  vision  while  he  pictured  to  himself  the  girl  of 
his  heart,  wishing  that  by  some  communion  of  spirits 
he  might  convey  his  thoughts  to  her,  and  receive 
hers.  It  was  now  the  first  week  of  January  on  earth. 
He  could  almost  see  her  house  and  the  snow-clad 
trees  in  the  park,  and  knew  that  at  that  hour  she  was 
dressing  for  dinner,  and  hoped  and  believed  that  he 
was  in  her  heart.  While  he  thus  mused,  one  moon 
after  another  rose,  each  at  a  different  phase,  till  three 
were  at  once  in  the  sky.  Adjusting  the  electric  pro- 
tection-wires that  were  to  paralyze  any  creature  that 
attempted  to  come  within  the  circle,  and  would 
arouse  them  by  ringing  a  bell,  he  knocked  the  ashes 
from  his  pipe,  rolled  himself  in  a  blanket,  and  was 
soon  asleep  beside  his  friends. 


CHAPTER  IL 


ANTECEDENTAL. 


"  Come  in ! "  sounded  a  voice,  as  Dr.  Cortlandt 
and  Dick  Ayrault  tapped  at  the  door  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Terrestrial  Axis  Straightening  Company's 
private  office  on  the  morning  of  the  21st  of  June, 
A.  D.  2000.  Col.  Bearwarden  sat  at  his  capacious 
desk,  the  shadows  passing  over  his  face  as  April 
clouds  flit  across  the  sun.  He  was  a  handsome  man, 
and  young  for  the  important  post  he  filled — being 
scarcely  forty — a  graduate  of  "West  Point,  with  great 
executive  ability,  and  a  wonderful  engineer.  "  Sit 
down,  chappies,"  said  he  ;  "  we  have  still  a  half  hour 
before  I  begin  to  read  the  report  I  am  to  make  to  the 
stockholders  and  representatives  of  all  the  govern- 
ments, which  is  now  ready.  I  know  you  smoke," 
passing  a  box  of  Havanas  to  the  professor. 

Prof.   Cortlandt,  LL.  D.,  United  States  Govern- 

(17) 


18  A  JOCRNEY  IN   OTHER  WORLDS. 

ment  expert,  appointed  to  examine  the  company's 
calculations,  was  about  fifty,  with  a  high  forehead, 
greyish  hair,  and  quick,  grey  eyes,  a  geologist  and  as- 
tronomer, and  altogether  as  able  a  man,  in  his  own 
way,  as  Col.  Bearwarden  in  his.  Eichard  Ayrault, 
a  large  stockholder  and  one  of  the  honorary  vice- 
presidents  in  the  company,  was  about  thirty,  a  uni- 
versity man,  by  nature  a  scientist,  and  engaged  to 
one  of  the  prettiest  society  girls,  who  was  then  a 
student  at  Yassar,  in  the  beautiful  town  of  Pough- 
keepsie. 

"  Knowing  the  way  you  carry  things  in  your 
mind,  and  the  difficulty  of  rattling  you,"  said  Cort- 
landt,  "  we  have  dropped  in  on  our  way  to  hear  the 
speech  that  I  would  not  miss  for  a  fortune.  Let 
us  know  if  we  bother  you." 

"  Impossible,  dear  boy,"  replied  the  president 
genially.  "  Since  I  survived  your  official  investi- 
gations, I  think  I  deserve  some  of  your  attention  in- 
formally." 

"  Here  are  my  final  examinations,"  said  Cort- 
landt,  handing  Bearwarden  a  roll  of  papers.  "  I 
have  been  over  all  your  figures,  and  testify  to  their 
accuracy  in  the  appendix  I  have  added." 


ANTECEDENTAL.  19 

So  they  sat  and  chatted  about  the  enterprise  that 
interested  Cortlandt  and  Ayrault  almost  as  much  as 
Bearwarden  himself.  As  the  clock  struck  eleven, 
the  president  of  the  company  put  on  his  hat,  and, 
saying  au  revoir  to  his  friends,  crossed  the  street  to 
the  Opera  House,  in  which  he  was  to  read  a  report 
that  would  be  copied  in  all  the  great  journals  and 
heard  over  thousands  of  miles  of  wire  in  every  part 
of  the  globe.  "When  he  arrived,  the  vast  building  was 
already  filled  with  a  distinguished  company,  repre- 
senting the  greatest  intelhgence,  wealth,  and  powers 
of  the  world.  Bearwarden  went  in  by  the  stage  en- 
trance, exchanging  greetings  as  he  did  so  with 
officers  of  the  company  and  directors  who  had  come 
to  hear  him.  Cortlandt  and  Ayrault  entered  by  the 
regular  door,  the  former  going  to  the  Government 
representatives'  box,  the  latter  to  join  his  fiancee^ 
Sylvia  Preston,  who  was  there  with  her  mother. 
Bearwarden  had  a  roll  of  manuscript  at  hand,  but  so 
well  did  he  know  his  speech  that  he  scarcely  glanced 
at  it.  After  being  introduced  by  the  chairman  of 
the  meeting,  and  seeing  that  his  audience  was  all  at- 
tention, he  began,  holding  himself  erect,  his  clear, 
powerful  voice  making  every  part  of  the  building  ring. 


CHAPTEE  III. 


"  To  the  Bondholders  and  Stockholders  of  the  Ter- 
restrial Axis  Straightening  Company  and  Repre- 
sentatives of  Earthly  Governments. 

"  Gentlemen  :  You  know  that  the  objects  of  this 
company  are,  to  straighten  the  axis  of  the  earth,  to 
combine  the  extreme  heat  of  summer  with  the  in- 
tense cold  of  winter  and  produce  a  uniform  tempera- 
ture for  each  degree  of  latitude  the  year  round.  At 
present  the  earth's  axis — that  is,  the  line  passing 
through  its  centre  and  the  two  poles — is  inclined  to 
the  ecliptic  about  twenty-three  and  a  half  degrees. 
Our  summer  is  produced  by  the  northern  hemi- 
sphere's leaning  at  that  angle  towards  the  sun,  and 
our  winter  by  its  turning  that  much  from  it.  In 
one  case  the  sun's  rays  are  caused  to  shine  more  per- 
pendicularly, and  in  the  other  more  obliquely.  This 
(ao) 


PRESIDENT  BEAR  WARDEN'S  SPEECH.  21 

wabbling,  like  that  of  a  top,  is  the  sole  cause  of  the 
seasons ;  since,  owing  to  the  eccentricity  of  our  orbit, 
the  earth  is  actually  fifteen  hundred  thousand  miles 
nearer  the  sun  during  our  winter,  in  the  northern 
hemisphere,  than  in  summer.  That  there  is  no  limit 
to  a  planet's  inclination,  and  that  inclination  is  not 
essential,  we  have  astronomical  proof.  Yenus's  axis 
is  inclined  to  the  plane  of  her  orbit  seventy-five  de- 
grees, so  that  the  arctic  circle  comes  within  fifteen 
degrees  of  the  equator,  and  the  tropics  also  extend  to 
latitude  seventy-five  degrees,  or  within  fifteen  de- 
grees of  the  poles,  producing  great  extremes  of  heat 
and  cold. 

"  Yenus  is  made  still  more  difficult  of  habitation 
by  the  fact  that  she  rotates  on  her  axis  in  the  same 
time  that  she  revolves  about  the  sun,  in  the  same  way 
that  the  moon  does  about  the  earth,  so  that  one  side 
must  be  perpetually  frozen  while  the  other  is 
parched. 

"  In  Uranus  we  see  the  axis  tilted  still  further,  so 
that  the  arctic  circle  descends  to  the  equator.  The 
most  varied  climate  must  therefore  prevail  during 
its  year,  whose  length  exceeds  eighty-one  of  ours. 

''  The  axis  of  Mars  is  inclined  about  twenty-eight 


22  A  JOURNEY   IX   OTHER  WORLDS. 

and  two  thirds  degrees  to  the  plane  of  its  orbit ; 
consequently  its  seasons  must  be  very  similar  to 
ours,  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold  being  somewhat 
greater. 

'•  In  Jupiter  we  have  an  illustration  of  a  planet 
whose  axis  is  almost  at  right  angles  to  the  plane  of 
its  orbit,  being  inclined  but  about  a  degree  and  a 
half.  The  hypothetical  inhabitants  of  this  majestic 
planet  must  therefore  have  perpetual  summer  at  the 
equator,  eternal  winter  at  the  poles,  and  in  the  tem- 
perate regions  everlasting  spring.  On  account  of  the 
straightness  of  the  axis,  however,  even  the  polar  in- 
habitants— if  there  are  any — are  not  oppressed  by  a 
six  months'  night,  for  all  except  those  at  the  very 
pole  have  a  sunrise  and  a  sunset  every  ten  hours — 
the  exact  day  being  nine  hours,  fifty  five  minutes, 
and  twenty-eight  seconds.  The  warmth  of  the 
tropics  is  also  tempered  by  the  high  winds  that  must 
result  from  the  rapid  whirl  on  its  axis,  every  object 
at  the  equator  being  carried  around  by  this  at  the 
rate  of  27,600  miles  an  hour,  or  over  three  thousand 
miles  farther  than  the  earth's  equator  moves  in 
twenty-four  hours. 

"  The  inclination  of  the  axis  of  our  own  planet  has 


PRESIDENT  BEARWARDEN'S  SPEECH.  23 

also  frequently  considerably  exceeded  that  of  Mars, 
and  again  has  been  but  little  greater  than  Jupiter's  ; 
at  least,  this  is  by  all  odds  the  most  reasonable  ex- 
planation of  the  numerous  Glacial  periods  through 
which  our  globe  has  passed,  and  of  the  recurring 
mild  spells,  probably  lasting  thousands  of  years,  in 
which  elephants,  mastodons,  and  other  semi-tropical 
vertebrates  roamed  in  Siberia,  some  of  which  died  so 
recently  that  their  flesh,  preserved  by  the  cold,  has 
been  devoured  by  the  dogs  of  modern  explorers. 

"  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  inclining  of  the 
axes  of  Jupiter,  Yenus,  the  Earth,  and  the  other 
planets,  is  now  fixed  ;  in  some  cases  it  is  known  to  be 
changing.  As  long  ago  as  1890,  Major-Gen.  A.  W. 
Drayson,  of  the  British  Army,  showed,  in  a  work 
entitled  Untrodden  Ground  in  Astronomy  and  Geol- 
ogy, that,  as  a  result  of  the  second  rotation  of  the 
earth,  the  inclination  of  its  axis  was  changing,  it  hav- 
ing been  23°  28'  23''  on  January  1,  1750,  23°  27' 
55-3"  on  January  1,  1800,  and  23°  27'  30'9"  on 
January  1,  1850 ;  and  by  calculation  one  hundred 
and  ten  years  ago  showed  that  in  1900  (one  hundred 
years  ago)  it  would  be  23°  27'  08-8".  This  natural 
straightening  is,  of   course,  going  on,    and    we  are 


24:  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  \yORLDS. 

merely  about  to  anticipate  it.  When  this  improve- 
ment was  mooted,  all  agreed  that  the  extremes  of  heat 
and  cold  could  well  be  spared.  '  Balance  those  of 
summer  against  those  of  winter  by  partially  straight- 
ening the  axis ;  reduce  the  inclination  from  twenty- 
three  degrees,  thirty  minutes,  to  about  fifteen  de- 
grees, but  let  us  stop  there,'  many  said.  Before  we 
had  gone  far,  however,  we  found  it  would  be  best  to 
make  the  work  complete.  This  will  reclaim  and 
make  productive  the  vast  areas  of  Siberia  and  the 
northern  part  of  this  continent,  and  will  do  much  for 
the  antarctic  regions  ;  but  there  will  still  be  change 
in  temperature  ;  a  wind  blowing  towards  the  equator 
will  always  be  colder  than  one  blowing  from  it,  while 
the  slight  eccentricity  of  the  orbit  will  supply  enough 
chancre  to  awaken  recollections  of  seasons  in  our 
eternal  spring. 

"  The  way  to  accomplish  this  is  to  increase  the 
weight  of  the  pole  leaving  the  sun,  by  increasing  the 
amount  of  material  there  for  the  sun  to  attract,  and 
to  lighten  the  polo  approaching  or  turning  towards 
the  sun,  by  removing  some  heavy  substance  from  it, 
and  putting  it  preferably  at  the  opposite  pole.  This 
shifting  of    ballast  is  most    easily  accomplished,  as 


PRESIDENT  BEARWARDEN'S  SPEECH.  25 

you  will  readily  perceive,  by  confining  and  removing 
water,  which  is  easily  moved  and  has  a  considerable 
weight.  How  we  purpose  to  apply  these  aqueous 
brakes  to  check  the  wabbling  of  the  earth,  by  means 
of  the  attraction  of  the  sun,  you  will  now  see. 

"  From  Commander  Fillmore,  of  the  Arctic  Shade 
and  the  Committee  on  Bulkheads  and  Dams,  I  have 
just  received  the  following  by  cable  telephone: 
*  The  Arctic  Ocean  is  now  in  condition  to  be  pumped 
out  in  summer  and  to  have  its  average  depth  in- 
creased one  hundred  feet  by  the  dams  in  winter.  We 
have  already  fifty  million  square  yards  of  windmill 
turbine  surface  in  position  and  ready  to  move.  The 
cables  bringing  us  currents  from  the  dynamos  at  M- 
agara  Falls  are  connected  with  our  motors,  and  those 
from  the  tidal  dynamos  at  the  Bay  of  Fundy  will  be 
in  contact  when  this  reaches  you,  at  which  moment 
the  pumps  will  begin.  In  several  of  the  landlocked 
gulfs  and  bays  our  system  of  confining  is  so  com- 
plete, that  the  surface  of  the  water  can  be  raised  two 
hundred  feet  above  sea-level.  The  polar  bears  will 
soon  have  to  use  artificial  ice.  Perhaps  the  cheers 
now  ringing  without  may  reach  you  over  the  tele- 
phone.' " 


26       A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

The  audience  became  greatly  interested,  and  when 
the  end  of  the  telephone  was  applied  to  a  micro- 
phone the  room  fairly  rang  with  exultant  cheers, 
and  those  looking  through  a  kintograph  (visual  tele- 
graph) terminating  in  a  camera  obscura  on  the  shores 
of  Baffin  Bay  were  able  to  see  engineers  and  work- 
men waving  and  throwing  up  their  caps  and  fall- 
ing into  one  another's  arms  in  ecstasies  of  delight. 
When  the  excitement  subsided,  the  president  con- 
tinued : 

"  Chairman  Wetmore,  of  the  Committee  on  Ex- 
cavations and  Embankments  in  Wilkesland  and  the 
Antarctic  Continent,  reports :  ^  Two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  square  miles  are  now  hollowed  out 
and  enclosed  sufficiently  to  hold  water  to  an  average 
depth  of  four  hundred  feet.  Every  summer,  when 
the  basin  is  allowed  to  drain,  we  can,  if  necessary, 
extend  our  reservoir,  and  shall  have  the  best  season 
of  the  year  for  doing  work  until  the  earth  has  per- 
manent spring.  Though  we  have  comparatively 
little  water  or  tidal  power,  the  earth's  crust  is  so  thin 
at  this  latitude,  on  account  of  the  flattening,  that  by 
sinking  our  tubular  boilers  and  pipes  to  a  depth  of  a 
few  thousand  feet  we  have  secured  so  terrific  a  vol- 


PRESIDENT  BEARWARDEN'S  SPEECH.  27 

ume  of  superheated  steam  that,  in  connection  with 
our  wind  turbines,  we  shall  have  no  difficulty  in  rais- 
ing half  a  cubic  mile  of  water  a  minute  to  our  en- 
closure, which  is  but  little  above  sea-level,  and  into 
which,  till  the  pressure  increases,  we  can  fan  or  blow 
the  water,  so  that  it  can  be  full  three  weeks  after  our 
longest  day,  or,  since  the  present  unimproved  ar- 
rangement gives  the  indigenes  but  one  day  and  night 
a  year,  I  will  add  the  21st  day  of  December. 

" '  We  shall  be  able  to  find  use  for  much  of  the 
potential  energy  of  the  water  in  the  reservoir  when 
we  allow  it  to  escape  in  June,  in  melting  some  of 
the  accumulated  polar  ice-cap,  thereby  decreasing 
still  further  the  weight  of  this  pole,  in  lighting  and 
warming  ourselves  until  we  get  the  sun's  light  and 
heat,  in  extending  the  excavations,  and  in  charging 
the  storage  batteries  of  the  ships  at  this  end  of  the 
line.  Everything  will  be  ready  when  you  signal 
"  Kaise  water."  '  " 

"  Let  me  add  parenthetically,"  said  Bearwarden, 
"  that  this  means  of  obtaining  power  by  steam  boilers 
sunk  to  a  great  depth  is  much  to  be  commended ; 
for,  though  the  amount  of  heat  we  can  withdraw  is 
too  small  to  have  much  effect,  the  farther  towards 


28  A  JOURNEY   IN   OTHER  WORLDS. 

the  centre  our  globe  can  be  cooled  the  deeper  will 
the  water  of  the  oceans  be  able  to  penetrate — since 
it  is  its  conversion  into  steam  that  prevents  the  water 
from  working  its  way  in  farther — and  the  more  dry 
land  we  shall  have." 

"  You  see,"  the  president  continued,  "  the  storage 
capacity  at  the  south  pole  is  not  quite  as  great  as  at 
the  north,  because  it  is  more  difficult  to  excavate  a 
basin  than  to  close  the  exits  of  one  that  already  ex- 
ists, which  is  what  we  have  done  in  the  arctic.  The 
work  is  also  not  so  nearly  complete,  since  it  will  not 
be  necessary  to  use  the  southern  reservoir  for  storing 
weight  for  six  months,  or  until  the  south  pole,  which 
is  now  at  its  maximum  declination  from  the  sun,  is 
turned  towards  it  and  begins  to  move  away ;  then,  by 
increasing  the  amount  of  matter  there,  and  at  the 
same  time  lightening  the  north  pole,  and  reversing 
the  process  every  six  months,  we  decrease  the  speed  at 
which  the  departing  pole  leaves  the  sun  and  at  which 
the  approaching  pole  advances.  The  north  pole,  we 
see,  will  be  a  somewhat  more  powerful  lever  than  the 
south  for  working  the  globe  to  a  straight  position, 
but  we  may  be  sure  that  the  latter,  in  connection 
with  the  former,  will  be  able  to  hold  up  its  end." 


PRESIDENT  BEARWARDEN'S  SPEECH.  .         29 

[The  building  here  fairly  shook  with  applause,  so 
that,  had  the  arctic  workers  used  the  microphone, 
they  might  have  heard  in  the  enthusiastic  uproar  a 
good  counterpart  of  their  own  period.] 

"  I  only  regret,"  the  president  continued,  "  that 
when  we  began  this  work  the  most  marvellous  force 
yet  discovered— apergy— was  not  sufficiently  under- 
stood to  be  utilized,  for  it  would  have  eased  our 
labours  to  the  point  of  almost  eliminating  them. 
But  we  have  this  consolation :  it  was  in  connection 
with  our  work  that  its  applicability  was  discovered, 
so  that  had  we  and  all  others  postponed  our  great 
undertaking  on  the  pretext  of  waiting  for  a  new 
force,  apergy  might  have  continued  to  lie  dormant 
for  centuries.  With  this  force,  obtained  by  simply 
blending  negative  and  positive  electricity  with  elec- 
tricity of  the  third  element  or  state,  and  charging  a 
body  sufficiently  with  this  fluid,  gravitation  is  nulli- 
fied or  partly  reversed,  and  the  earth  repels  the  body 
with  the  same  or  greater  power  than  that  with  which 
it  still  attracts  or  attracted  it,  so  that  it  may  be  sus- 
pended or  caused  to  move  away  into  space.  Sic  itur 
ad  astra,  we  may  say.  With  this  force  and  everlast- 
ing spring  before  us,  what  may  we  not  achieve  ?     We 


30  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

may  some  day  be  able  to  visit  the  planets,  though 
many  may  say  that,  since  the  axes  of  most  of  those 
we  have  considered  are  more  inclined  than  ours,  they 
would  rather  stay  here.  '  Blessed  are  they  that  shall 
inherit  the  earth,' "  he  went  on,  turning  a  four- 
foot  globe  with  its  axis  set  vertically  and  at  right 
angles  to  a  yellow  globe  labelled  "  Sun  " ;  and  again 
waxing  eloquent,  he  added  :  "  AVe  are  the  instru- 
ments destined  to  bring  about  the  accomplishment 
of  that  prophecy,  for  never  in  the  history  of  the 
world  has  man  reared  so  splendid  a  monument  to 
his  own  genius  as  he  will  in  straightening  the  axis  of 
the  planet. 

"  Xo  one  need  henceforth  be  troubled  by  sudden 
change,  and  every  man  can  have  perpetually  the 
climate  he  desires.  Northern  Europe  will  again 
luxuriate  in  a  climate  that  favoured  the  elephants 
that  roamed  in  northern  Asia  and  Switzerland.  To 
produce  these  animals  and  the  food  they  need,  it  is 
not  necessary  to  have  great  heat,  but  merely  to  pre- 
vent great  cold,  half  the  summer's  sun  being  ab- 
sorbed in  melting  the  winter's  accumulation  of  ice. 

"  When  the  axis  has  reached  a  point  at  which 
it  inclines  but  about  twelve  degrees,  it  will  become 


PRESIDENT  BEAR  WARDEN'S  SPEECH.  31- 

necessary  to  fill  tlie  antarctic  reservoir  in  June  and 
the  Arctic  Ocean  in  December,  in  order  to  check 
the  straightening,  since  otherwise  it  might  get  be- 
yond the  perpendicular  and  swing  the  other  way. 
When  this  motion  is  completely  arrested,  I  suggest 
that  we  blow  up  the  Aleutian  Isles  and  enlarge 
Bering  Strait,  so  as  to  allow  what  corresponds  to 
the  Atlantic  Gulf  Stream  in  the  Pacific  to  enter  the 
Arctic  Archipelago,  which  I  have  calculated  will  raise 
the  average  temperature  of  that  entire  region  about 
thirty  degrees,  thereby  still  further  increasing  the 
amount  of  available  land. 

"  Ocean  currents,  being  the  result  of  the  prevail- 
ing winds,  which  will  be  more  regular  than  at  pres- 
ent, can  be  counted  upon  to  continue  practically  as 
they  are.  It  may  not  be  plain  to  you  why  the  trade 
winds  do  not  blow  towards  the  equator  due  south  and 
north,  since  the  equator  has  much  the  same  effect  on 
air  that  a  stove  has  in  the  centre  of  a  room,  caus- 
ing an  ascending  current  towards  the  ceiling,  which 
moves  off  in  straight  lines  in  all  directions  on  reach- 
ing it,  its  place  being  taken  by  cold  currents  moving 
in  opposite  directions  along  the  floor.  Picture  to 
yourselves  the   ascending    currents    at   the   equator 


32  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER   WORLDS. 

moving  off  to  tlie  poles  from  which  they  came.  As 
they  move  north  they  are  continually  coming  to  parts 
of  the  globe  having  smaller  circles  of  latitude  than 
those  they  have  left,  and  therefore  not  moved  for- 
ward as  rapidly  by  the  earth's  daily  rotation  as  the 
latitudes  nearer  the  equator.  The  winds  consequent- 
ly run  ahead  of  the  surface,  and  so  move  east  of 
north — the  earth  turning  towards  the  east — while  the 
heavier  colder  surface  currents,  rushing  towards  the 
equator  to  take  the  place  of  the  ascending  column, 
coming  from  regions  where  the  surface  whirls  com- 
paratively slowly  to  those  where  it  is  rotating  faster, 
are  continually  left  behind,  and  so  move  southwest ; 
while  south  of  the  equator  a  corresponding  motion 
results.  Though  this  is  not  the  most  exact  explana- 
tion, it  may  serve  to  make  the  action  clear.  I  will 
add,  that  if  any  one  prefers  a  colder  or  a  warmer 
climate  than  that  of  the  place  in  which  he  lives,  he 
need  only  go  north  or  south  for  an  hour ;  or,  if  he 
prefers  his  own  latitude,  he  can  rise  a  few  thousand 
feet  in  the  air,  or  descend  to  one  of  the  worked-out 
coal-mines  which  are  now  used  as  sanitariums,  and 
secure  his  object  by  a  slight  change  of  altitude.  Let 
us  speed  the  departure  of  racking  changes  and  ex- 


PRESIDENT  BEARWARDEN'S  SPEECH.  33 

tremes  of  climate,  and  prepare  to  welcome  what  we 
believe  prevails  in  paradise— namely,  everlasting 
spring." 

Appended  to  tlie  address  was  the  report  of  the 
Government  Examining  Committee,  which  ran  :  "We 
have  critically  examined  the  Terrestrial  Axis  Straight- 
ening Company's  figures  and  calculations,  also  its 
statements  involving  natural  philosophy,  physics, 
and  astronomy,  all  of  which  we  find  correct,  and 
hereby  approve. 

[Signed]  "  For  the  Committee  : 

"  Heney  Chelmsford  Coktlandt, 

"  Chairman!'^ 
The  Board  of  Directors  having-  ratified  the  acts  of 
its  officers,  and  passed  congratulatory  resolutions,  the 
meeting  adjourned  sine  die. 


CHAPTER  lY. 

PROF.    CORTLAXDT's    HISTORICAL    SKETCH   OF   THE   WORLD 
IN   A.D.    2000. 

Prof.  Cortlandt,  preparing  a  history  of  the 
times  at  the  beginning  of  the  great  terrestrial  and 
astronomical  change,  wrote  as  follows :  "  This  period 
• — A.  D.  2000 — is  by  far  the  most  wonderful  the  world 
has  as  yet  seen.  The  advance  in  scientific  knowledge 
and  attainment  within  the  memory  of  the  present 
generation  has  been  so  stupendous  that  it  completely 
overshadows  all  that  has  preceded.  All  times  in  his- 
tory and  all  periods  of  the  world  have  been  remark- 
able for  some  distinctive  or  characteristic  trait.  The 
feature  of  the  period  of  Louis  XIY  was  the  splen- 
dour of  the  court  and  the  centralization  of  power  in 
Paris.  The  year  1789  marked  the  decline  of  the 
power  of  courts  and  the  evolution  of  government  by 
the  people.     So,  by  the  spread  of  republican  ideas 


SKETCH  OF  THE  WORLD  IN  A.  D.  2000.  35 

and  the  great  advance  in  science,  education  has  be- 
come universal,  for  women  as  well  as  for  men,  and 
this  is  more  than  ever  a  mechanical  age. 

"With  increased  knowledge  we  are  constantly 
coming  to  realize  how  little  we  really  know,  and  are 
also  continually  finding  manifestations  of  forces  that 
at  first  seem  like  exceptions  to  established  laws.  This 
is,  of  course,  brought  about  by  the  modifying  influ- 
ence of  some  other  natural  law,  though  many  of 
these  we  have  not  yet  discovered. 

"Electricity  in  its  varied  forms  does  all  work, 
having  superseded  animal  and  manual  labour  in  ev- 
erything, and  man  has  only  to  direct.  The  greatest 
ingenuity  next  to  finding  new  uses  for  this  almost 
omnipotent  fluid  has  been  displayed  in  inducing  the 
forces  of  Nature,  and  even  the  sun,  to  produce  it. 
Before  describing  the  features  of  this  perfection  of 
civilization,  let  us  review  the  steps  by  which  society 
and  the  political  world  reached  their  present  state. 

"  At  the  close  of  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  in 
1871,  Continental  Europe  entered  upon  the  con- 
dition of  an  armed  camp,  which  lasted  for  nearly 
half  a  century.  The  primary  cause  of  this  was  the 
mutual  dislike  and  jealousy  of  France  and  Germany, 


36  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

eacli  of  which  strove  to  have  a  larger  and  better 
equipped  national  defence  than  the  other.  There 
were  also  many  other  canses,  as  the  ambition  of  the 
Eussian  Czar,  supported  by  his  country's  vast  though 
imperfectly  developed  resources  and  practically  un- 
limited supply  of  men,  one  phase  of  which  was  the 
constant  ferment  in  the  Balkan  Peninsula,  and  an- 
other Russia's  schemes  for  extension  in  Asia ;  an- 
other was  the  general  desire  for  colonies  in  Africa, 
in  which  one  Continental  power  pretty  effectually 
blocked  another,  and  the  latent  distrust  inside  the 
Triple  Alliance.  England,  meanwhile,  preserved  a 
wise  and  profitable  neutrality. 

"  These  tremendous  sacrifices  for  armaments,  both 
on  land  and  water,  had  far-reaching  results,  and,  as 
we  see  it  now,  were  clouds  with  silver  linings.  The 
demand  for  hardened  steel  projectiles,  nickel-steel 
plates,  and  light  and  almost  unbreakable  machinery, 
was  a  great  incentive  to  improvement  in  metallurgy  ; 
while  the  necessity  for  compact  and  safely  carried 
amnmnition  greatly  stimulated  chemical  research, 
and  led  to  the  discovery  of  explosives  whose  powers 
no  obstacle  can  resist,  and  incidentally  to  other  more 
useful  things. 


SKETCH  OF  THE   WORLD  IN  A.  D.  2000.  37 

"  Further  mechanical  and  scientific  progress,  how- 
ever, such  as  flying  machines  provided  with  these 
high  explosives,  and  asphyxiating  bombs  containing 
compressed  gas  that  could  be  fired  from  guns  or 
dropped  from  the  air,  intervened.  The  former 
would  have  laid  every  city  in  the  dust,  and  the 
latter  might  have  almost  exterminated  the  race. 
These  discoveries  providentially  prevented  hostili- 
ties, so  that  the  '  Great  AVar,'  so  long  expected, 
never  came,  and  the  rival  nations  had  their  pains 
for  nothing,  or,  rather,  for  others  than  themselves. 

"  Let  us  now  examine  the  political  and  ethno- 
logical results.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  the 
flower  of  Continental  Europe  were  killed  by  over- 
work and  short  rations,  and  millions  of  desirable 
and  often — unfortunately  for  us — undesirable  people 
were  driven  to  emigration,  nearly  all  of  whom 
came  to  English-speaking  territory,  greatly  increas- 
ing our  productiveness  and  power.  As  we  have 
seen,  the  jealousy  of  the  Continental  powers  for 
one  another  effectually  prevented  their  extending 
their  influence  or  protectorates  to  other  continents, 
which  jealousy  was  considerably  aided  by  the  small 
but   destructive   wars   that    did    take  place.      High 


38       A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

taxes  also  made  it  more  difficult  for  the  moneyed 
men  to  invest  in  colonizing  or  development  compa- 
nies, which  are  so  often  the  forerunners  of  absorp- 
tion ;  while  the  United  States,  with  her  coal — of 
which  the  Mediterranean  states  have  scarcely  any — 
other  resources,  and  low  taxes,  which,  though  neces- 
sary, can  be  nothing  but  an  evil,  has  been  able  to 
expand  naturally  as  no  other  nation  ever  has  before. 

^'  This  has  given  the  English-speakers,  especially 
the  United  States,  a  free  hand,  rendering  enforce- 
ment of  the  Monroe  doctrine  easy,  and  started  Eng- 
lish a  long  way  towards  becoming  the  universal 
language,  while  all  formerly  unoccupied  land  is  now 
owned  by  those  speaking  it. 

"At  the  close  of  our  civil  war,  in  1S65,  we  had 
but  3,000,000  square  miles,  and  a  population  of  34,- 
000,000.  The  country  staggered  beneath  a  colossal 
debt  of  over  $4,000,000,000,  had  an  expensive  but 
essentially  perishable  navy,  and  there  was  an  omi- 
nous feeling  between  the  sections.  The  purchase  of 
Alaska  in  1867,  by  which  we  added  over  half  a 
million  square  miles  to  our  territory,  marked  tlie 
resumption  of  the  forward  march  of  the  United 
States.      Twenty-five  years  later,  at  the  presidential 


SKETCH   OF  THE  WORLD  IN  A.  D.  2000.  39 

campaign  of  1892,  the  debt  had  been  reduced  to 
$900,000,000,  deducting  the  sinking  fund,  and  the 
charge  for  pensions  had  about  reached  its  maximum 
and  soon  began  to  decrease,  though  no  one  objected 
to  any  amount  of  reward  for  hona  fide  soldiers  who 
had  helped  to  save  the  country.  The  country's 
wealth  had  also  enormously  increased,  while  the 
population  had  grown  to  65,000,000.  Our  ancestors 
had,  completed  or  in  building,  a  navy  of  which  no 
nation  need  be  ashamed  ;  and,  though  occasionally 
marred  by  hard  times,  there  was  general  prosperity. 

"  Gradually  the  different  States  of  Canada — or 
provinces,  as  they  were  then  called — came  to  realize 
that  their  future  would  be  far  grander  and  more 
glorious  in  union  with  the  United  States  than  sepa- 
rated from  it ;  and  also  that  their  sympathy  was  far 
stronger  for  their  nearest  neighbours  than  for  any 
one  else.  One  by  one  these  I^orthern  States  made 
known  their  desire  for  consolidation  with  the  Union, 
retaining  complete  control  of  their  local  affairs,  as 
have  the  older  States.  They  were  gladly  welcomed 
by  our  Government  and  people,  and  possible  rivals 
became  the  best  of  friends.  Preceding  and  also  fol- 
lowing this,  the  States  of  Mexico,  Central  America, 


40  A  JOURNEY   IN  OTHER   WORLDS. 

and  parts  of  South  America,  tiring  of  the  incessant 
revohitions  and  difficulties  among  themselves,  which 
had  pretty  constantly  looked  upon  us  as  a  big 
brother  on  account  of  our  maintenance  of  the  Mon- 
roe doctrine,  began  to  agitate  for  annexation,  know- 
ing they  would  retain  control  of  their  local  affairs. 
In  this  they  were  vigorously  supported  by  the 
American  residents  and  property-holders,  who  knew 
that  their  possessions  would  double  in  value  the  day 
the  United  States  Constitution  was  signed. 

"Thus,  in  the  first  place,  by  the  encouragement 
of  our  people,  and  latterly,  apparently,  by  its  own 
volition,  the  Union  has  increased  enormously  in 
power,  till  it  now  embraces  10,000,000  square  miles, 
and  has  a  free  and  enlightened  population  of  300,- 
000,000.  Though  the  Union  established  by  Wash- 
ington and  his  contemporaries  has  attained  such  tre- 
mendous proportions,  its  growth  is  by  no  means 
finished ;  and  as  a  result  of  modern  improvements, 
it  is  less  of  a  journey  now  to  go  from  Alaska  to  the 
Orinoco  than  it  was  for  the  Father  of  his  Country  to 
travel  from  Xew  York  or  Phihidelpliia  to  the  site 
of  the  city  named  in  his  honour. 

"Adequate  and  really  rapid  transportation  facili- 


SKETCH   OF  THE   WORLD  IN  A.  D.  2000.  41 

ties  have  done  much  to  bind  the  different  parts  of 
the  country  together,  and  to  rub  off  the  edges  of 
local  prejudice.  Though  we  always  favour  peace, 
no  nation  would  think  of  opposing  the  expressed 
wishes  of  the  United  States,  and  our  moral  power 
for  good  is  tremendous.  The  name  Japhet  means 
enlargement,  and  the  prophecy  seems  about  to  be  lit- 
erally fulfilled  by  these  his  descendants.  The  bank- 
rupt suffering  of  so  many  European  Continental  pow- 
ers had  also  other  results.  It  enabled  the  socialists — 
w^ho  have  never  been  able  to  see  beyond  themselves 
— to  force  their  governments  into  selling  their  colo- 
nies in  the  Eastern  hemisphere  to  England,  and  their 
islands  in  the  Western  to  us,  in  order  to  realize  upon 
them.  With  the  addition  of  Canada  to  the  United 
States  and  its  loss  to  the  British  Empire,  the  land 
possessions  of  the  two  powers  became  about  equal, 
our  Union  being  a  trifle  the  larger.  All  danger  of 
war  being  removed  by  the  Canadian  change,  a 
healthful  and  friendly  competition  took  its  place, 
the  nations  competing  in  their  growth  on  different 
hemispheres.  England  easily  added  large  areas  in 
Asia  and  Africa,  while  the  United  States  grew  as 
we  have   seen.      The  race  is  still,  in  a  sense,  neck- 


42  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

aud-neck,  and  the  English-speakers  together  possess 
nearly  half  the  globe.  The  world's  recent  rate  of 
progress  would  have  been  impossible  without  this 
approximation  to  a  universal  language.  The  causes 
that  checkmated  the  Continental  powers  have  ceased 
to  exist.  Many  millions  of  men  whose  principal 
thought  had  been  to  destroy  other  members  of  the 
race  became  producers,  but  it  was  then  too  late,  for 
the  heavy  armaments  had  done  their  work. 

"  Let  us  now  glance  at  the  times  as  they  are,  and 
see  how  the  business  of  life  is  transacted.  Manhat- 
tan Island  has  something  over  2,500,000  inhabitants, 
and  is  surrounded  by  a  belt  of  population,  several 
miles  wide,  of  12,000,000  more,  of  which  it  is  the 
focus,  so  that  the  entire  city  contains  more  than 
14,500,000  souls.  The  several  hundred  square  miles 
of  land  and  water  forming  greater  K'^w  York  are 
perfectly  united  by  numerous  bridges,  tunnels,  and 
electric  ferries,  while  the  city's  great  natural  advan- 
tages have  been  enhanced  and  beautified  by  every 
ingenious  device.  Ko  main  avenue  in  the  newer 
sections  is  less  than  two  hundred  feet  wide,  contain- 
ing shade  and  fruit  trees,  a  bridle-path,  broad  side- 
walks, and   open   spaces   for  carriages  and   bicycles. 


SKETCH  OF  THE  WORLD   IN  A.  D.  2000.  43 

Several  fine  diagonal  streets  and  breathing-squares 
have  also  been  provided  in  the  older  sections,  and 
the  existing  parks  have  been  supplemented  by  inter- 
mediate ones,  all  being  connected  by  parkways  to 
form  continuous  chains. 

''  The  hollow  masts  of  our  ships — to  glance  at 
another  phase  en  passant — carry  windmills  instead 
of  sails,  through  which  the  wind  performs  the  work 
of  storing  a  great  part  of  the  energy  required  to 
run  them  at  sea,  while  they  are  discharging  or  load- 
ing cargo  in  port ;  and  it  can,  of  course,  work  to 
better  advantage  while  they  are  stationary  than  when 
they  are  running  before  it.  These  turbines  are  made 
entirely  of  light  metal,  and  fold  when  not  in  use,  so 
that  only  the  frames  are  visible.  Sometimes  these 
also  fold  and  are  housed,  or  wholly  disappear  within 
the  mast.  Steam-boilers  are  also  placed  at  the  foci 
of  huge  concave  mirrors,  often  a  hundred  feet  in 
diameter,  the  required  heat  being  supplied  by  the 
sun,  without  smoke,  instead  of  by  bulky  and  dirty 
coal.  This  discovery  gave  commercial  value  to  Sahara 
and  other  tropical  deserts,  which  are  now  desirable 
for  mill-sites  and  for  generating  power,  on  account 
of  the  directness  with  which  they  receive  the  sun's 


44  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

rajs  and  their  freedom  from  clouds.  Mile  after 
mile  Africa  has  been  won  for  tlie  uses  of  civilization, 
till  great  stretches  that  were  considered  impassible 
are  as  productive  as  gardens.  Our  condensers,  which 
compress,  cool,  and  rarefy  air,  enabling  travellers  to 
obtain  water  and  even  ice  from  the  atmosphere,  are 
great  aids  in  desert  exploration,  removing  absolutely 
the  principal  distress  of  the  ancient  caravan.  The 
erstwhile  'Dark  Continent'  has  a  larger  white 
population  now  than  Xorth  America  had  a  hundred 
years  ago,  and  has  this  advantage  for  the  future,  that 
it  contains  11,600,000  square  miles,  while  Xorth 
America  has  less  than  9,000,000.  Every  part  of  the 
globe  will  soon  sustain  about  as  large  and  prosperous 
a  population  as  the  amount  of  energy  it  receives 
from  the  sun  and  other  sources  will  warrant ;  pul)lic 
debts  and  the  efficiency  of  the  governments  being  the 
variable  elements. 

"The  rabbits  in  Australia,  and  the  far  more 
objectionable  poisonous  snakes  in  South  America  and 
India,  have  been  exterminated  by  the  capture  of  a 
few  dozen  of  the  creatures  in  the  infested  districts, 
their  inoculation  with  the  virus  similar  to  the  miirus 
ti2?hi,  tuberculosis,  or  any  other  contagious-germ  com- 


SKETCH  OF  THE   WORLD  IN  A.  D.  2000.  45 

plaint  to  which  the  species  treated  was  particularly 
susceptible,  and  the  release  of  these  individuals  when 
the  disease  was  seen  to  be  taking  hold.  The  rabbits 
and  serpents  released  at  once  returned  to  their  old 
haunts,  carrying  the  j^lague  far  and  wide.  The 
unfortunate  rabbits  were  greatly  commiserated  even 
by  the  medicos  that  wielded  the  death-dealing 
syringe  ;  but,  fortunately  for  themselves,  they  died 
easily.  The  reptiles,  perhaps  on  account  of  the 
wider  distribution  of  the  nerve  centres,  had  more 
lingering  but  not  painful  deaths,  often,  while  in 
articiolo  mortis,  leaving  the  holes  with  which  they 
seemed  to  connect  their  discomfort,  and  making  a 
final  struggle  along  the  ground,  only  to  die  more 
quickly  as  a  result  of  their  exertions.  We  have 
applied  this  also  to  the  potato-bug,  locust,  and  other 
insect  pests,  no  victim  being  too  small  for  the 
ubiquitous,  subtle  germ,  which,  properly  cultivated 
and  utilized,  has  become  one  of  man's  best  friends. 

"  We  have  microbe  tests  that  show  us  as  unmis- 
takably whether  the  germs  of  any  particular  disease 
— like  malaria,  typhoid,  or  scarlet  fever — are  present 
in  the  air,  as  litmus-paper  shows  alkalinity  of  a 
solution.     We  also  inoculate  as  a  preventive  against 


46  A  JOURNEY   IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

these  and  almost  all   other  germ  diseases,  with  the 
same  success  that  we  vaccinate  for  smallpox. 

"  The  medicinal  properties  of  all  articles  of  food 
are  so  well  understood  also,  that  most  cures  are 
brought  about  simply  by  dieting.  This  reminds  me 
of  the  mistakes  perpetrated  on  a  friend  of  mine  who 
called  in  Dr.  Grave-Powders,  one  of  the  old-school 
physicians,  to  be  treated  for  insomnia  and  dyspepsia. 
This  old  numskull  restricted  his  diet,  gave  him  huge 
doses  of  medicine,  and  decided  most  learnedly  that 
he  was  daily  growing  worse.  Concluding  that  he 
had  but  a  short  time  to  live,  my  friend  threw  away 
the  nauseating  medicines,  ate  whatever  he  had  a  nat- 
ural desire  for,  and  was  soon  as  well  as  ever — the 
obvious  moral  of  which  is,  that  we  can  get  whatever 
treatment  we  need  most  beneficially  from  our  food. 
Our  physicians  are  most  serious  and  thoughtful  men. 
They  never  claim  to  be  infallible,  but  study  scien- 
tifically to  increase  their  knowledge  and  improve  the 
methods  of  treatment.  As  a  result  of  this,  fresh  air, 
regular  exercise  for  both  sexes,  with  better  condi- 
tions, and  the  preservation  of  the  lives  of  children 
that  formerly  died  by  thousands  from  preventable 
causes,  the  physique,  especially  of  women,  is  wonder- 


SKETCH  OF  THE  WORLD  IN  A.  D.  2000.         47 

fully  improved,  and  the  average  longevity  is  already 
over  sixty. 

"  Our  social  structure,  to  be  brief,  is  based  on 
science,  or  the  conservation  of  energy,  as  the  Greek 
philosophers  predicted.  It  was  known  to  them  that 
a  certain  amount  of  power  would  produce  only  a 
certain  amount  of  work — that  is,  the  weight  of  a 
clock  in  descending  or  a  spring  in  uncoiling  returns 
theoretically  the  amount  of  work  expended  in  rais- 
ing or  coiling  it,  and  in  no  possible  way  can  it  do 
more.  In  practice,  on  account  of  friction,  etc.,  we 
know  it  does  less.  This  law,  being  invariable,  of 
course  limits  us,  as  it  did  Archimedes  and  Pythag- 
oras ;  we  have  simply  utilized  sources  of  power  that 
their  clumsy  workmen  allowed  to  escape.  Of  the 
four  principal  sources — food,  fuel,  wind,  and  tide — 
including  harnessed  waterfalls,  the  last  two  do  by  far 
the  most  work.  Much  of  the  electrical  energy  in 
every  thunderstorm  is  also  captured  and  condensed  in 
our  capacious  storage  batteries,  as  natural  hygeia  in 
the  form  of  rain  was  and  is  still  caught  in  our  coun- 
try cisterns.  Every  exposed  place  is  crowned  by  a 
cluster  of  huge  windmills  that  lift  water  to  some 
pond  or  reservoir  placed  as  high  as  possible.     Every 


48  A  JOURNEY  IN   OTHER  WORLDS. 

stiff  breeze,  therefore,  raises  millions  of  tons  of  water, 
wliicli  operate  hydraulic  turbines  as  required.  In- 
cidentally these  storage  reservoirs,  by  increasing  the 
surface  exposed  to  evaporation  and  the  consequent 
rainfall,  have  a  very  beneficial  effect  on  the  dry  re- 
gions in  the  interior  of  the  continent,  and  in  some 
cases  have  almost  superseded  irrigation.  The  wind- 
mill and  dynamo  thus  utilize  bleak  mountain-tops 
that,  till  their  discovery,  seemed  to  be  but  indifferent 
successes  in  Dame  Nature's  domain.  The  electricity 
generated  by  these,  in  connection  with  that  obtained 
by  waterfalls,  tidal  dynamos,  thunderstorms,  chemical 
action,  and  slow-moving  quadruple-expansion  steam 
engines,  provides  the  power  required  to  run  our  elec- 
tric ships  and  water-spiders,  railways,  and  stationary 
and  portable  motors,  for  heating  the  cables  laid  along 
the  bottom  of  our  canals  to  prevent  their  freezing  in 
winter,  and  for  almost  every  conceivable  purpose. 
Sometimes  a  man  has  a  windmill  on  his  roof  for 
light  and  heat;  then,  the  harder  the  wintry  blasts 
may  blow  the  brighter  and  warmer  becomes  the 
house,  the  current  passing  through  a  storage  battery 
to  make  it  more  steady.  The  operation  of  our  ordi- 
nary electric  railways  is  very  simple :  the  current  is 


SKETCH   OF  THE   WORLD  IN  A.  D.  2000.  49 

taken  from  an  overhead,  side,  or  underneath  wire, 
directly  through  the  air,  without  the  intervention  of 
a  trolley,  and  the  fast  cars,  for  they  are  no  longer 
run  in  trains,  make  five  miles  a  minute.  The  entire 
w^eight  of  each  car  being  used  for  its  own  traction,  it 
can  ascend  very  steep  grades,  and  can  attain  high 
speed  or  stop  very  quickly. 

"  Another  form  is  the  magnetic  railway,  on  which 
the  cars  are  wedge-shaped  at  both  ends,  and  moved 
by  huge  magnets  weighing  four  thousand  tons  each, 
placed  fifty  miles  apart.  On  passing  a  magnet,  the 
nature  of  the  electricity  charging  a  car  is  automatic- 
ally changed  from  positive  to  negative,  or  vice  versa, 
to  that  of  the  magnet  just  passed,  so  that  it  repels 
w^hile  the  next  attracts.  The  successive  magnets  are 
charged  oppositely,  the  sections  being  divided  half- 
way between  by  insulators,  the  nature  of  the  electrici- 
ty in  each  section  being  governed  by  the  charge  in 
the  magnet.  To  prevent  one  kind  of  electricity  from 
uniting  with  and  neutralizing  that  in  the  next  section 
by  passing  through  the  car  at  the  moment  of  transit, 
there  is  a  "  dead  stretch  "  of  fifty  yards  with  rails  not 
charged  at  all  between  the  sections.  This  change  in 
the  nature  of  the  electricity  is  repeated  automatically 


50  A  JOURNEY   IX   OTHER  WORLDS. 

every  fifty  miles,  and  obviates  tlie  necessity  of  revolv- 
ing machinery,  the  rails  aiding  communication. 

"  Magnetism  being  practically  as  instantaneous  as 
gravitation,  the  only  limitations  to  speed  are  the  elec- 
trical pressure  at  the  magnets,  the  resistance  of  the 
air,  and  the  danger  of  the  wheels  bursting  from  cen- 
trifugal force.  The  first  can  seemingly  be  increased 
without  limit ;  the  atmospheric  resistance  is  about  to 
be  reduced  by  running  the  cars  hermetically  sealed 
through  a  partial  vacuum  in  a  steel  and  toughened 
glass  tube ;  while  the  third  has  been  removed  indefi- 
nitely by  the  use  of  galvanized  aluminum,  which 
bears  about  the  same  relation  to  ordinarj^  aluminum 
that  steel  does  to  iron,  and  which  has  twice  the  ten- 
sile strength  and  but  one  third  the  weight  of  steel. 
In  some  cases  the  rails  are  made  turned  in,  so  that  it 
would  be  impossible  for  a  car  to  leave  the  track  with- 
out the  road-bed's  being  totally  demolished ;  but  in 
most  cases  this  is  found  to  be  unnecessary,  for  no 
through  line  has  a  curve  on  its  vast  stretches  with  a 
radius  of  less  than  half  a  mile.  Kails,  one  hundred 
and  sixty  pounds  to  the  yard,  are  set  in  grooved  steel 
ties,  which  in  turn  are  held  by  a  concrete  road-bed 
consisting    of    broken    stone    and    cement,    making 


SKETCH  OF   THE  WORLD  IN   A.  D.  2000.  51 

spreading  rails  and  loose  ballast  impossible.  A  large 
increase  in  capital  was  necessary  for  these  improve- 
ments, the  elimination  of  curves  being  the  most  labo- 
rious part,  requiring  bridges,  cuttings,  and  embank- 
ments that  dwarf  the  Pyramids  and  would  have 
made  the  ancient  Pharaohs  open  their  eyes ;  but  with 
the  low  rate  of  interest  on  bonds,  the  slight  cost  of 
power,  and  great  increase  in  business,  the  venture 
was  a  success,  and  we  are  now  in  sight  of  further 
advances  that  will  enable  a  traveller  in  a  high  lati- 
tude moving  west  to  keep  pace  with  the  sun,  and, 
should  he  wish  it,  to  have  unending  day." 


CHAPTEK  Y. 

DR.    CORTLANDt's    HISTORY    CONTINUED. 

"  In  marine  transportation  we  have  two  methods, 
one  for  freight  and  another  for  passengers.  The 
old-fashioned  deeply  immersed  ship  has  not  changed 
radically  from  the  steam  and  sailing  vessels  of  the 
last  century,  except  that  electricity  has  superseded 
all  other  motive  powers.  Steamers  gradually  passed 
through  the  five  hundred-,  six  hundred-,  and  seven 
hundred-foot-long  class,  with  other  dimensions  in 
proportion,  till  their  length  exceeded  one  thousand 
feet.  These  were  very  fast  ships,  crossing  the  Atlan- 
tic in  four  and  a  half  days,  and  were  almost  as  steady 
as  houses,  in  even  the  roughest  weather. 

"  Ships  at  this  period  of  their  development  had 
also  passed  through  the  twin  and  triple  screw  stage 
to  the  quadruple,  all  four  together  developing  one 
Imndred  and  forty  thousand  indicated   horse-power, 

(■V-i) 


SKETCH  OF  THE   WORLD   IN  A.  D.  2000.  53 

and  being  driven  by  steam.  This,  of  course,  involved 
sacrificing  the  best  part  of  the  ship  to  her  engines, 
and  a  very  heavy  idle  investment  while  in  port. 
Storage  batteries,  with  plates  composed  of  lead  or 
iron,  constantly  increasing  in  size,  had  reached  a  fair 
state  of  development  by  the  close  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 

"  During  the  second  decade  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury the  engineers  decided  to  try  the  plan  of  running 
half  of  a  transatlantic  hner's  screws  by  electricity 
generated  by  the  engines  for  driving  the  others  while 
the  ship  was  in  port,  this  having  been  a  success  al- 
ready on  a  smaller  scale.  For  a  time  this  plan  gave 
great  satisfaction,  since  it  diminished  the  amount  of 
coal  to  be  carried  and  the  consequent  change  of  dis- 
placement at  sea,  and  enabled  the  ship  to  be  worked 
with  a  smaller  number  of  men.  The  batteries  could 
also,  of  course,  be  distributed  along  the  entire  length, 
and  placed  where  space  was  least  valuable. 

"The  construction  of  such  huge  vessels  called 
for  much  governmental  river  and  harbour  dredging, 
and  a  ship  drawing  thirty-five  feet  can  now  enter 
l^ew  York  at  any  state  of  the  tide.  For  ocean 
bars,  the  old  system  of  taking    the    material  out  to 


54  A  JOURNEY   IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 

sea  and  discharging  it  still  survives,  thongli  a  jet  of 
water  from  force-pumps  directed  against  the  obstruc- 
tion is  also  often  employed  with  quick  results.  For 
river  work  we  have  discovered  a  better  method. 
All  the  mud  is  run  back,  sometimes  over  a  mile 
from  the  river  bank,  where  it  is  used  as  a  fertil- 
izer, by  means  of  wire  railways  strung  from  pole^. 
These  wire  cables  combine  in  themselves  the  func- 
tions of  trolley  wire  and  steel  rail,  and  carry  the 
suspended  cars,  which  empty  themselves  and  re- 
turn around  the  loop  for  another  load.  Often  the 
removed  material  entirely  fills  small,  saucer-shaped 
valleys  or  low  places,  in  which  case  it  cannot  wash 
back.  This  improvement  has  ended  the  necessity  of 
building  jetties. 

"  The  next  improvement  in  sea  travelling  was 
the  '  marine  spider.'  As  the  name  shows,  this  is 
built  on  the  principle  of  an  insect.  It  is  well 
known  that  a  body  can  be  carried  over  the  water 
much  faster  than  through  it.  With  this  in  mind, 
builders  at  first  constructed  light  framework  decks 
on  large  water-tight  wheels  or  drums,  having  pad- 
dles on  their  circumferences  to  provide  a  hold  on 
the  water.     These  they  caused  to  revolve  by  means 


SKETCH   OF   THE   WORLD  IN  A.  D.  2000.         55 

of  macliinerj  on  the  deck,  but  soon  found  that  the 
resistance  offered  to  the  barrel  wheels  themselves 
was  too  great.  They  therefore  made  them  more 
like  centipeds  with  large,  bell-shaped  feet,  connected 
witli  a  superstructural  deck  by  ankle-jointed  pipes, 
through  which,  when  necessary,  a  pressure  of  air 
can  be  forced  down  upon  the  enclosed  surface  of 
water.  Ordinarily,  however,  they  go  at  great  speed 
without  this,  the  weight  of  the  water  displaced  by 
the  bell  feet  being  as  great  as  that  resting  upon 
them.  Thus  they  swing  along  like  a  pacing  horse, 
except  that  there  are  four  rows  of  feet  instead  of 
two,  each  foot  being  taken  out  of  the  water  as  it  is 
swung  forward,  the  first  and  fourth  and  second  and 
third  rows  being  worked  together.  Although,  on 
account  of  their  size,  which  covers  several  acres, 
they  can  go  in  any  water,  they  give  the  best  results 
on  Mediterraneans  and  lakes  that  are  free  from 
ocean  rollers,  and,  under  favourable  conditions,  make 
better  speed  than  the  nineteenth  -  century  express 
trains,  and,  of  course,  going  straight  as  the  crow 
flies,  and  without  stopping,  they  reach  a  destination 
in  considerably  shorter  time. 

"  Some  passengers  and  express  packages  still  cross 


56       A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

the  Atlantic  on  'spiders,'  but  most  of  these  light 
cargoes  go  in  a  far  pleasanter  and  more  rapid 
way.  The  deep-displacement  vessels,  for  heavy 
freight,  make  little  better  speed  than  was  made  by 
the  same  class  a  hundred  years  ago.  But  they  are 
also  run  entirely  by  electricity,  largely  supplied  by 
wind,  and  by  the  tide  turning  their  motors,  which 
become  dynamos  while  at  anchor  in  any  stream. 
They  therefore  need  no  bulky  boilers,  engines,  sails, 
or  coal-bunkers,  and  consequently  can  carry  unpre- 
cedentedly  large  cargoes  with  comparatively  small 
crews.  The  officers  on  the  bridge  and  the  men  in 
the  crow's  nest — the  way  to  which  is  by  a  ladder 
inside  the  mast,  to  protect  the  climber  from  the 
weather — are  about  all  that  is  needed  ;  while  disable- 
ment is  made  practically  impossible,  by  having  four 
screws,  each  with  its  own  set  of  automatically  lubri- 
cating motors. 

"  This  change,  like  other  labour-saving  appliances, 
at  first  resulted  in  laying  off  a  good  many  men,  the 
least  satisfactory  being  the  first  to  go ;  but  the  in- 
crease in  business  was  so  great  that  the  intelligent 
men  were  soon  re-employed  as  ofiicers  at  higher 
rates  of  pay  and  more  interesting  work  than  before, 


SKETCH  OF  THE  WORLD  IN   A.  D.  2000.         57 

while  tliey  as  consumers  were  benefited  as  much 
as  any  one  else  by  the  decreased  cost  of  production 
and  transportation. 

"With  a  view  to  facilitating  interchange  still 
further,  our  Government  has  gradually  completed 
the  double  coast-line  that  Kature  gave  us  in  part. 
This  was  done  by  connecting  islands  separated  from 
shore  by  navigable  water,  and  leaving  openings  for 
ingress  and  exit  but  a  few  hundred  yards  wide. 
The  breakwaters  required  to  do  this  were  built  with 
cribbing  of  incorrodible  metal,  affixed  to  deeply 
driven  metallic  piles,  and  filled  with  stones  along 
coasts  where  they  were  found  in  abundance  or  ex- 
cess. This,  while  clearing  many  fields  and  improv- 
ing them  for  cultivation,  provided  just  the  needed 
material ;  since  irregular  stones  bind  together  firmly, 
and,  while  also  insoluble,  combine  considerable  bulk 
with  weight.  South  of  Hatteras,  where  stones  are 
scarce,  the  sand  dredged  from  parts  of  the  channel 
was  filled  into  the  crib,  the  surface  of  which  has  a 
concave  metallic  cover,  a  trough  of  still  water  being 
often  the  best  barrier  against  the  passage  of  waves. 
This  double  coast-line  has  been  a  great  benefit,  and 
propelled  vessels  of  moderate  draught  can  range  in 


58  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER   WORLDS. 

smooth  water,  carrying  very  full  loads,  from  Labra- 
dor to  the  Orinoco.  The  exits  are,  of  course,  pro- 
tected by  a  line  of  cribbing  a  few  hundred  feet  to 
seaward. 

"  The  rocks  have  been  removed  from  all  chan- 
nels about  Xew  York  and  other  commercial  centres, 
while  the  shallow  places  have  been  dredged  to  a  uni- 
form depth.  This  diminishes  the  dangers  of  naviga- 
tion and  considerably  decreases  the  speed  with  which 
the  tides  rush  through.  Where  the  obstructions  con- 
sisted of  reefs  surrounded  by  deep  water,  their  re- 
moval with  explosives  was  easy,  the  shattered  frag- 
ments being  allowed  to  sink  to  the  bottom  and  re- 
main there  beneath  the  danger  line. 

"Many  other  great  works  have  also  been  com- 
pleted. The  canals  at  Nicaragua  have  been  in  op- 
eration many  years,  it  having  been  found  best  to 
have  several  sizes  of  locks,  and  to  use  the  large  ones 
only  for  the  passage  of  large  vessels.  The  improved 
Erie  and  Champlain  Canals  also  enable  ships  four 
hundred  feet  long  to  reach  Kew  York  from  the 
Great  Lakes  via  the  Hudson  River. 

"  For  flying,  we  have  an  aeroplane  that  came  in 
when  we  devised  a  suitable  motor   powxr.     This   is 


SKETCH   OF  THE   WORLD   IN  A.  D.  2000.         59 

obtained  from  very  light  paper-cell  batteries  tliat 
combine  some  qualities  of  the  primary  and  second- 
ary type,  since  they  mnst  first  be  charged  from  a 
dynamo,  after  which  they  can  supply  full  currents 
for  one  hundred  hours — enough  to  take  them  around 
the  globe — while  partly  consuming  the  elements  in 
the  cells.  The  power  is  applied  through  turbine 
screws,  half  of  which  are  capable  of  propelling  the 
flat  deck  in  its  inclined  position  at  sufficient  speed 
to  prevent  its  falling.  The  moving  parts  have  ball 
bearings  and  friction  rollers,  lubrication  being  se- 
cured automatically,  when  required,  by  a  supply  of 
vaseline  that  melts  if  any  part  becomes  hot.  All  the 
framing  is  of  thin  but  very  durable  galvanized  alu- 
minum, which  has  superseded  steel  for  every  pur- 
pose in  which  weight  is  not  an  advantage,  as  in  the 
permanent  way  on  railways.  The  air  ships,  whose 
length  varies  from  fifty  to  five  hundred  feet,  have 
rudders  for  giving  a  vertical  or  a  horizontal  motion, 
and  several  strengthening  keels  that  prevent  leeway 
when  turning.  They  are  entirely  on  the  principle  of 
birds,  maintaining  themselves  mechanically,  and  dif- 
fering thus  from  the  unwieldy  balloon.     Starting  as 

if  on  a  circular  railway,  against  the  w4nd,  they  rise 
5 


60  A  JOURNEY   IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

to  a  considerable  lieiglit,  and  then,  shutting  off  the 
batteries,  coast  down  the  aerial  slope  at  a  rate  that 
sometimes  touches  five  hundred  miles  an  hour. 
AVhen  near  the  ground  the  helmsman  directs  the 
prow  upward,  and,  again  turning  on  full  current, 
rushes  up  the  slope  at  a  speed  that  far  exceeds 
the  eagle's,  each  drop  of  two  miles  serving  to  take 
the  machine  twenty  or  thirty ;  though,  if  the  pilot 
does  not  wish  to  soar,  or  if  there  is  a  fair  wind  at  a 
given  height,  he  can  remain  in  that  stratum  of  the 
atmosphere  by  moving  horizontally.  He  can  also 
maintain  his  elevation  when  moving  very  slowly, 
and  though  the  headway  be  entirely  stopped,  the 
descent  is  gradual  on  account  of  the  aeroplane's 
great  spread,  the  batteries  and  motors  being  secured 
to  the  under  side  of  the  deck. 

"  The  motors  are  so  light  that  they  develop  two 
horse  power  for  every  pound  of  their  weight ;  while, 
to  keep  the  frames  thin,  the  necessary  power  is  ob- 
tained by  terrific  speed  of  the  moving  parts,  as 
though  a  steam  engine,  to  avoid  great  pressure  in 
its  cylinders,  had  a  long  stroke  and  ran  at  great  pis- 
ton speed,  which,  however,  is  no  disadvantage  to  the 
rotary  motion  of  the  electric  motor,  there  being  no 


SKETCH  OF  THE   WORLD  IN  A.  D.  2000.         61 

reciprocating  cranks,  etc.,  that  must  be  started  and 
stopped  at  each  revolution. 

"  To  obviate  the  necessity  of  gearing  to  reduce 
the  number  of  revolutions  to  those  possible  for  a 
large  screw,  this  member  is  made  very  small,  and 
allowed  to  revolve  three  thousand  times  a  minute, 
so  that  the  requisite  power  is  obtained  with  great 
simplicity  of  mechanism,  which  further  decreases 
friction.  The  shafts,  and  even  the  wires  connect- 
ing the  batteries  with  the  motors,  are  made  large 
and  hollow.  Though  the  primary  battery  pure  and 
simple,  as  the  result  of  great  recent  advances  in. 
chemistry,  seems  to  be  again  coming  up,  the  best 
aeroplane  batteries  are  still  of  the  combination-stor- 
age type.  These  have  been  so  perfected  that  eight 
ounces  of  battery  yield  one  horse  power  for  six 
hours,  so  that  two  pounds  of  battery  will  supply  a 
horse  power  for  twenty-four  hours  ;  a  small  fifty- 
horse-power  aeroplane  being  therefore  able  to  fly 
four  days  with  a  battery  weight  of  but  four  hun- 
dred pounds. 

''  Limestone  and  clarified  acid  are  the  principal 
parts  of  these  batteries.  It  was  known  long  ago  that 
there  was  about  as  much  imprisoned  solar  energy  in 


G2  A  JOURNEY  IN   OTHER  WORLDS. 

limestone  as  in  coal,  but  it  was  only  recently  that  we 
discovered  this  way  of  releasing  and  using  it. 

"  Common  salt  plays  an  important  part  in  many 
of  our  chemical  reactions.  By  combining  it  with 
limestone,  and  treating  this  with  acid  jelly,  we  also 
get  good  results  on  raising  to  the  boiling-point. 

'*  However  enjoyable  the  manly  sport  of  yacht- 
ing is  on  water,  how  vastly  more  interesting  and  fas- 
cinating it  is  for  a  man  to  have  a  yacht  in  which 
he  can  fly  to  Europe  in  one  day,  and  with  which  the 
exploration  of  tropical  Africa  or  the  regions  about 
the  poles  is  mere  child's  play,  while  giving  him 
so  magnificent  a  bird's-eye  view  !  ]\rany  seemingly 
insoluble  problems  are  solved  by  the  advent  of  these 
birds.  Having  as  their  halo  the  enforcement  of 
peace,  they  have  in  truth  taken  us  a  long  step  to- 
wards heaven,  and  to  the  co-operation  and  higher 
civilization  that  followed  we  shall  owe  much  of  the 
success  of  the  great  experiment  on  Mother  Earth 
now  about  to  be  tried. 

"  Another  change  that  came  in  with  a  rush  upon 
the  discovery  of  a  battery  with  insignificant  weight, 
compact  form,  and  great  capacity,  was  the  substitu- 
tion of  electricity  for  animal   power  for  the  move- 


SKETCH  OF  THE  WORLD  IN  A.  D.  2000.         63 

ment  of  all  vehicles.  This,  of  necessity  brought  in 
good  roads,  the  results  obtainable  on  such  being  so 
much  greater  than  on  bad  ones  that  a  universal  de- 
mand for  them  arose.  This  was  in  a  sense  cumula- 
tive, since  the  better  the  streets  and  roads  became, 
the  greater  the  inducement  to  have  an  electric  car- 
riage. The  work  of  opening  up  the  country  far 
and  near,  by  straightening  and  improving  existing 
roads,  and  laying  out  new  ones  that  combine  the 
sohdity  of  the  Appian  Way  with  the  smoothness  of 
modern  asphalt,  was  largely  done  by  convicts,  work- 
ing under  the  direction  of  State  and  Government 
engineers.  Every  State  contained  a  horde  of  these 
unprofitable  boarders,  who,  as  they  formerly  worked, 
interfered  with  honest  labour,  and  when  idle  got  into 
trouble.  City  streets  had  been  paved  by  the  mu- 
nicipality ;  country  roads  attended  to  by  the  farmers, 
usually  very  unscientifically.  Here  was  a  field  in 
which  convict  labour  would  not  compete,  and  an 
important  work  could  be  done.  When  once  this 
was  made  the  law,  every  year  showed  improve- 
ment, while  the  convicts  had  useful  and  healthful 
occupation. 

"  The  electric  phaetons,  as  those  for  high  speed 


64  A  JOL'RNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

are  called,  Lave  three  and  four  wheels,  and  weigh, 
including  battery  and  motor,  five  hundred  to  four 
thousand  pounds.  With  hollow  but  immensely 
strong  galvanically  treated  aluminum  frames  and 
pneumatic  or  cushion  tires,  they  run  at  thirty-five 
and  forty  miles  an  hour  on  country  roads,  and  attain 
a  speed  over  forty  on  city  streets,  and  can  maintain 
this  rate  without  recharging  for  several  days.  They 
can  therefore  roam  over  the  roads  of  the  entire  hemi- 
sphere, from  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Peace  and  grey 
shores  of  Hudson  Bay,  to  beautiful  Lake  Nicaragua, 
the  Eiver  Plate,  and  Patagonia,  improving  man  by 
bringing  him  close  to  Xature,  while  they  combine 
the  sensations  of  coasting  witli  the  interest  of  see- 
ing the  country  well. 

"  To  recharge  the  batteries,  which  can  be  done  in 
almost  every  town  and  village,  two  copper  pins  at- 
tached to  insulated  copper  wires  are  shoved  into 
smooth-bored  holes.  These  drop  out  of  themselves 
by  fusing  a  small  lead  ribbon,  owing  to  the  increased 
resistance,  when  the  acid  in  the  liatteries  begins  to 
^  boil,'  though  there  is,  of  course,  but  little  heat  in  this, 
the  function  of  charging  being  merely  to  bring  about 
the  condition  in  which  part  of  the  limestone  can  be 


SKETCH  OF  THE   WORLD  IN  A.  D.  2000.  65 

consumed,  the  batteries  themselves,  when  in  constant 
use,  requiring  to  be  renewed  about  once  a  month.  A 
handle  at  the  box  seat  turns  on  any  part  of  the  at- 
tainable current,  for  either  going  ahead  or  reversing, 
there  being  six  or  eight  degrees  of  speed  for  both 
directions,  while  the  steering  is  done  with  a  small 
wheel. 

"  Light  but  powerful  batteries  and  motors  have 
also  been  fitted  on  bicycles,  which  can  act  either  as 
auxiliaries  for  hill-climbing  or  in  case  of  head  wind, 
or  they  can  propel  the  machine  altogether. 

"  Gradually  the  width  of  the  streets  became  in- 
sufficient for  the  traffic,  although  the  elimination  of 
horses  and  the  consequent  increase  in  speed  greatly 
augmented  their  carrying  capacity,  until  recently  a 
new  system  came  in.  The  whole  width  of  the 
avenues  and  streets  in  the  business  parts  of  the 
city,  including  the  former  sidewalks,  is  given  up  to 
wheel  traffic,  an  iron  ridge  extending  along  the  exact 
centre  to  compel  vehicles  to  keep  to  the  right.  Strips 
of  nickel  painted  white,  and  showing  a  bright  phos- 
phorescence at  night,  are  let  into  the  metal  pave- 
ment flush  with  the  surface,  and  run  parallel  to  this 
ridge    at   distances    of   ten   to  fifteen  feet,  dividing 


QQ  A  JOURNEY   IN  OTHER   WORLDS. 

each  half  of  the  avenue  into  four  or  five  sections, 
their  width  increasing  as  thej  approach  the  middle. 
All  trucks  or  drajs  moving  at  less  than  seven  miles 
an  hour  are  obliged  to  keep  in  the  section  nearest 
the  building  line,  those  running  between  seven  and 
fifteen  in  the  next,  fifteen  to  twenty-five  in  the 
third,  twenty-five  to  thirty -five  in  the  fourth,  and 
everything  faster  than  that  in  the  section  next  the 
ridge,  unless  the  avenue  or  street  is  wide  enough  for 
further  subdivisions.  If  it  is  wide  enough  for  only 
four  or  less,  the  fastest  vehicles  must  keep  next  the 
middle,  and  limit  their  speed  to  the  rate  allowed  in 
that  section,  which  is  marked  at  every  crossing  in 
white  letters  sufiiciently  large  for  him  that  runs  to 
read.  It  is  therefore  only  in  the  wide  thoroughfares 
that  very  high  speed  can  be  attained.  In  addition  to 
the  crank  that  corresponds  to  a  throttle,  there  is  a 
gauge  on  every  vehicle,  which  shows  its  exact  speed 
in  miles  per  hour,  by  gearing  operated  by  the  revo- 
lutions of  the  wheels. 

"  The  policemen  on  duty  also  have  instantaneous 
kodaks  mounted  on  tripods,  which  show  the  position 
of  any  carriage  at  half-  and  quarter-second  intervals, 
by  which   it   is   easy  to    ascertain    the  exact   speed, 


SKETCH  OF  THE  WORLD  IN  A.  D.  2000.         67 

should  the  officers  be  unable  to  judge  it  bj  the  eye ; 
so  there  is  no  danger  of  a  vehicle's  speed  exceeding 
that  allowed  in  the  section  in  which  it  happens  to 
be ;  neither  can  a  slow  one  remain  on  the  fast  lines. 

"  Of  course,  to  make  such  high  speed  for  ordi- 
nary carriages  possible,  a  perfect  pavement  became  a 
sine  qua  non.  We  have  secured  this  by  the  half -inch 
sheet  of  steel  spread  over  a  carefully  laid  surface  of 
asphalt,  with  but  little  bevel ;  and  though  this  might 
be  slippery  for  horses'  feet,  it  never  seriously  affects 
our  wheels.  There  being  nothing  harder  than  the 
rubber  ties  of  comparatively  light  drays  upon  it — for 
the  heavy  traffic  is  carried  by  electric  railways  under 
ground — it  will  practically  never  wear  out. 

"  With  the  application  of  steel  to  the  entire  sur- 
face, car-tracks  became  unnecessary,  ordinary  wheels 
answering  as  well  as  those  with  flanges,  so  that  no 
new  tracks  were  laid,  and  finally  the  car  companies 
tore  up  the  existing  ones,  selling  them  in  many 
instances  to  the  municipalities  as  old  iron.  Our 
streets  also  need  but  little  cleaning ;  neither  is  the 
surface  continually  indented,  as  the  old  cobble-stones 
and  Belgian  blocks  were,  by  the  pounding  of  the 
horses'  feet,  so  that  the  substitution  of  electricity  for 


68  A  JOURNEY   IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 

animal  power  has  done  mucli  to  solve  the  problem  of 
attractive  streets. 

"  Scarcely  a  ton  of  coal  comes  to  Manhattan 
Island  or  its  vicinity  in  a  year.  Very  little  of  it 
leaves  the  mines,  at  the  mouths  of  which  it  is  con- 
verted into  electricity  and  sent  to  the  points  of  con- 
sumption by  wire,  where  it  is  employed  for  all  uses 
to  which  fuel  was  put,  and  many  others.  Conse- 
quently there  is  no  smoke,  and  the  streets  are  not 
encumbered  with  coal-carts  ;  the  entire  width  being 
given  up  to  carriages,  etc.  The  ground  iloors  in  the 
business  parts  are  used  for  large  warehouses,  trucks 
running  in  to  load  and  unload.  Pedestrians  there- 
fore have  sidewalks  level  with  the  second  story,  con- 
sisting of  glass  floors  let  into  aluminum  frames,  while 
all  street  crossings  are  made  on  bridges.  Private 
houses  have  a  front  door  opening  on  the  sidewalk, 
and  another  on  the  ground  level,  so  that  ladies  pay- 
ing visits  or  leaving  cards  can  do  so  in  carriages.  In 
business  streets  the  second  story  is  used  for  shops. 
In  place  of  steel  covering,  country  roads  have  a  thick 
coating  of  cement  and  asphalt  over  a  foundation  of 
crushed  stone,  giving  a  capital  surface,  and  have  a 
width  of  thirty-three  feet  (two  rods)  in  thinly  settled 


SKETCH  OF  THE  WORLD  IN  A.  D.  2000.  69 

districts,  to  sixtj-six  feet  (four  rods)  where  the  popu- 
lation is  greater.  All  are  planted  with  shade  and 
fruit  trees,  while  the  wide  driveways  have  one  or 
two  broad  sidewalks.  The  same  rule  of  making  the 
slow-moving  vehicles  keep  near  the  outside  prevails, 
though  the  rate  of  increase  in  speed  on  approaching 
the  middle  is  more  rapid  than  in  cities,  and  there  is 
usually  no  dividing  ridge.  On  reaching  the  top  of  a 
long  and  steep  hill,  if  we  do  not  wish  to  coast,  we 
convert  the  motors  into  dynamos,  while  running  at 
full  speed,  and  so  change  the  kinetic  energy  of 
the  descent  into  potential  in  our  batteries.  This 
twentieth-century  stage-coaching  is  one  of  the  de- 
lights to  which  we  are  heirs,  though  horses  are  still 
used  by  those  that  prefer  them. 

"  We  have  been  much  aided  in  our  material  prog- 
ress by  the  facility  with  which  we  obtain  the  metals. 
It  was  observed,  some  time  ago,  that  when  arte- 
sian and  oil  wells  had  reached  a  considerable  depth, 
what  appeared  to  be  drops  of  lead  and  antimony  came 
up  with  the  stream.  It  finally  occurred  to  a  well- 
borer  that  if  he  could  make  his  drill  hard  enough 
and  get  it  down  far  enough,  keeping  it  cool  by  solidi- 
fied carbonic  acid  during  the  proceeding,  he  would 


70  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTUER  WORLDS. 

reach  a  point  at  which  most  of  the  metals  would  be 
viscous,  if  not  actually  molten,  and  on  being  freed 
from  the  pressure  of  the  crust  they  would  expand, 
and  reach  the  surface  in  a  stream.  This  experiment 
he  performed  near  the  hot  geysers  in  Yellowstone 
Park,  and  what  was  his  delight,  on  reaching  a  depth 
scarcely  half  a  mile  beyond  his  usual  stopping-place, 
to  be  rewarded  by  a  stream  of  metal  that  heralded  its 
approach  by  a  loud  explosion  and  a  great  rush  of 
superheated  steam !  It  ran  for  a  month,  completely 
filling  the  bed  of  a  small,  dried-up  river,  and  when  it 
did  stop  there  were  ten  million  tons  in  sight.  This 
proved  the  feasibility  of  the  scheme,  and,  though 
many  subsequent  attempts  were  less  successful,  we 
have  learned  by  experience  where  it  is  best  to  drill, 
and  can  now  obtain  almost  any  metal  we  wish. 

"  '  Magnetic  eyes '  are  of  great  use  to  miners  and 
civil  engineers.  These  instruments  are  something 
like  the  mariner's  compass,  with  the  sensitiveness 
enormously  increased  by  galvanic  currents.  The 
'eye,'  as  it  were,  sees  what  substances  are  under- 
ground, and  at  what  distances.  It  also  shows  liow 
many  people  are  in  an  adjoining  room — through  the 
magnetic   properties   of   the   iron   in   their   blood — 


SKETCH   OP  THE  WORLD   IN  A.  D.  2000.  71 

whether  they  are  moving,  and  in  wliat  directions 
and  at  what  speed  they  go.  In  connection  with  the 
phonograph  and  concealed  by  draperies,  it  is  useful 
to  detectives,  who,  through  a  registering  attachment, 
can  obtain  a  record  of  everything  said  and  done. 

"  Our  political  system  remains  with  but  little 
change.  Each  State  has  still  two  United  States  Sena- 
tors, though  the  population  represented  by  each  rep- 
resentative has  been  greatly  increased,  so  that  the 
Senate  has  grown  numerically  much  more  than  the 
House.  It  is  the  duty  of  each  member  of  Congress 
to  understand  the  conditions  existing  in  every  other 
member's  State  or  district,  and  the  country's  interest 
always  precedes  that  of  party.  AYe  have  a  compre- 
hensive examination  system  in  the  civil  service,  and 
every  officeholder,  except  members  of  the  Cabinet, 
retains  his  office  while  efficiently  performing  his  duty, 
without  regard  to  politics.  The  President  can  also 
be  re-elected  any  number  of  times.  The  Cabinet 
members,  as  formerly,  usually  remain  in  office  while 
he  does,  and  appear  regularly  in  Congress  to  defend 
their  measures. 

"  The  really  rapid  transit  lines  in  'New  York  are 
underground,  and  have  six  tracks,  two  being  used  for 


72  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTBER  WORLDS. 

freight.  At  all  stations  the  local  tracks  rise  several 
feet  towards  the  street  and  slope  off  in  both  direc- 
tions, while  the  express  tracks  do  this  only  at  stations 
at  which  the  faster  trains  stop.  This  gives  the  pas- 
sengers a  shorter  distance  to  descend  or  rise  in  the 
elevators,  and  the  ascent  before  the  stations  aids  the 
brakes  in  stopping,  while  the  drop  helps  the  motors 
to  start  the  trains  quickly  in  getting  away. 

"  Photography  has  also  made  great  strides,  and 
there  is  now  no  difficulty  in  reproducing  exactly  the 
colours  of  the  object  taken. 

"  Telephones  have  been  so  improved  that  one  per- 
son can  speak  in  his  natural  voice  with  another  in 
any  part  of  the  globe,  the  wire  that  enables  him  to 
hear  also  showing  him  the  face  of  the  speaker  though 
he  be  at  the  antipodes.  All  telephone  wires  being 
underground  and  kept  by  themselves,  they  are  not 
interfered  with  by  any  high-tension  electric-light  or 
power  wires,  thunderstorms,  or  anything  else. 

"  Eain-making  is  another  subject  removed  from 
the  uncertainties,  and  has  become  an  absolute  science. 
We  produce  clouds  by  ex]3losions  in  the  atmosphere's 
heights  and  by  surface  air  forced  by  blowers  through 
large  pipes  up  the  side  of  a  mountain  or  natural  ele- 


SKETCH  OF  THE   WORLD  IN  A.  D.  2000.  ^3 

vation  and  there  discharged  through  an  opening  in 
the  top  of  a  tower  built  on  the  highest  part.  Tlie 
aeriduct  is  incased  in  a  poor  heat-conductor,  so  tliat 
the  air  retains  its  warmth  until  discharged,  when  it  is 
cooled  bj  expansion  and  the  surrounding  cold  air. 
Condensation  takes  place  and  soon  serves  to  start 
a  rain. 

"  Yet,  until  the  earth's  axis  is  straightened,  we 
must  be  more  or  less  dependent  on  the  eccentricities 
of  the  weather,  with  extremes  of  heat  and  cold, 
droughts  and  floods,  which  last  are  of  course 
largely  the  result  of  several  months'  moisture 
held  on  the  ground  in  the  form  of  snow^,  the 
congestion  being  relieved  suddenly  by  the  warm 
spring  rains. 

"  Medicine  and  surgery  have  kept  pace  with 
other  improvements — inoculation  and  antiseptics,  as 
already  seen,  rendering  most  of  the  germ  diseases 
and  formerly  dreaded  epidemics  impotent ;  while 
through  the  potency  of  electrical  affinity  we  form 
wholesome  food-products  rapidly,  instead  of  having 
to  wait  for  their  production  by  ISTature's  slow  pro- 
cesses. 

"  The   metric   system,  now  universal,  superseded 


7^       A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

the  old-fashioned  arbitrary  standards,  so  prolific  of 
mistakes  and  confusion,  about  a  century  ago. 

"  English,  as  we  have  seen,  is  already  the  lan- 
guage of  600,000,000  people,  and  the  number  is 
constantly  increasing  through  its  adoption  by  the 
numerous  races  of  India,  where,  even  before  the 
close  of  the  last  century,  it  was  about  as  important  as 
Latin  during  the  greatness  of  Kome,  and  by  the  fact 
that  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  elements  in  Mexico 
and  Central  and  South  America  show  a  constant  tend- 
ency to  die  out,  much  as  the  population  of  Spain 
fell  from  30,000,000  to  17,000,000  during  the  nine- 
teenth century.  As  this  goes  on,  in  the  Western 
hemisphere,  the  places  left  vacant  are  gradually 
filled  by  the  more  progressive  Anglo-Saxons,  so  that 
it  looks  as  if  the  study  of  ethnology  in  the  future 
would  be  very  simple. 

"  The  people  with  cultivation  and  leisure,  whose 
number  is  increasing  relatively  to  the  population  at 
each  generation,  spend  much  more  of  their  year  in 
the  country  than  formerly,  where  they  have  large 
and  well-cultivated  country  seats,  parts  of  which  are 
also  preserved  for  game.  This  growing  custom  on 
the  part  of  society,  in  addition  to  being  of  great  ad- 


SKETCH  OF  THE  WORLD  IN  A.  D.  2000.  75 

vantage  to  the  out-of-town  districts,  has  done  much 
to  save  the  forests  and  preserve  some  forms  of  game 
that  would  otherwise,  like  the  buffalo,  have  become 
extinct. 

"  In  astronomy  we  have  also  made  tremendous 
strides.  The  old-fashioned  double-convex  lens  used 
in  telescopes  became  so  heavy  as  its  size  grew,  that 
it  bent  perceptibly  from  its  own  weight,  when  pointed 
at  the  zenith,  distorting  the  vision  ;  while  when  it 
was  used  upon  a  star  near  the  horizon,  though  the 
glass  on  edge  kept  its  shape,  there  was  too  much 
atmosphere  between  it  and  the  observed  object  for 
successful  study.  Our  recent  telescopes  have,  there- 
fore, concave  plate-glass  mirrors,  twenty  metres  in 
diameter,  like  those  used  for  converging  the  sun's 
rays  in  solar  engines,  but  with  curves  more  mathe- 
matically exact,  which  collect  an  immense  amount  of 
light  and  focus  it  on  a  sensitive  plate  or  on  the  eye  of 
the  observer,  whose  back  is  turned  to  the  object  he  is 
studying.  An  electrical  field  also  plays  an  important 
part,  the  electricity  being  as  great  an  aid  to  light  as 
in  the  telephone  it  is  to  sound.  With  these  placed 
generally  on  high  mountain  peaks,  beyond  the  reach 
of  clouds,  wc  have  enormously  increased  the  number 


76  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER   WORLDS. 

of  visible  stars,  tliougli  there  are  still  probably  bound- 
less regions  that  we  cannot  see.  These  telescopes 
have  several  hundred  times  the  power  of  the  largest 
lenses  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  apparently  bring 
Mars  and  Jupiter,  when  in  opposition,  within  one 
thousand  and  ten  thousand  miles,  respectively,  so  that 
we  study  their  physical  geography  and  topography ; 
and  we  have  good  maps  of  Jupiter,  and  even  of  Sat- 
urn, notwithstanding  their  distance  and  atmospheric 
envelopes,  and  we  are  able  to  see  the  disks  of  third- 
magnitude  stars. 

"  It  seems  as  if,  when  we  wish  any  particular  dis- 
covery or  invention,  in  whatever  field,  we  had  but  to 
turn  our  efforts  in  its  direction  to  obtain  our  desire. 
We  seem,  in  fact,  to  have  awakened  in  the  scenes  of 
the  Arabian  Nights;  yet  the  mysterious  genius 
which  we  control,  and  wliich  dims  Aladdin's  lamp,  is 
the  gift  of  no  fairy  godmother  sustained  by  the  haze 
of  dreams,  but  shines  as  the  child  of  science  with 
fadeless  and  growing  splendour,  and  may  yet  bring 
us  and  our  little  planet  much  closer  to  God. 

"  AVe  should  indeed  be  happy,  living  as  we  do  at 
this  apex  of  attained  civilization,  with  the  bound- 
less   possibilities    of    the    future    unfolding    before 


SKETCH  OF   THE  WORLD   IN  A.  D.  2000.         7Y 

US,  on  tlie  horizon  of  wliicli  we  may  fairly  be  said 
to  stand. 

"We  are  freed  from  the  rattling  granite  pave- 
ment of  only  a  century  ago,  which  made  the  occu- 
pant of  an  omnibus  feel  like  a  fly  inside  of  a  drum ; 
from  the  domination  of  our  local  politics  by  ignorant 
foreigners ;  and  from  country  roads  that  either  filled 
the  eyes,  lungs,  and  hair  of  the  unfortunates  travel- 
ling upon  them  with  dust,  or,  resembling  ploughed 
and  fertilized  fields,  saturated  and  plastered  them  with 
mud.  These  miseries,  together  with  sea-sickness  in 
ocean  travelling,  are  forever  passed,  and  we  feel  that 
'  Excelsior  ! '  is  indeed  our  motto.  Our  new  and  in- 
creasing sources  of  power  have  so  stimulated  pro- 
duction and  manufacturing  that  poverty  or  want  is 
scarcely  known ;  while  the  development  of  the  popu- 
lar demand,  as  a  result  of  the  supplied  need,  is  so 
great  that  there  is  no  visible  limit  to  the  diversifica- 
tion of  industry  or  the  possibilities  of  the  arts. 

"  It  may  seem  strange  to  some  that  apparently  so 
disproportionate  a  number  of  inventions  have  been 
made  in  the  last  century.  There  are  several  reasons. 
Since  every  discovery  or  advance  in  knowledge  in- 
creases our   chance   of   obtaining  more,  it   becomes 


78  A  JOL^RNEY  IN   OTHER  WORLDS. 

cumulative,  and  our  progress  is  in  geometric  instead 
of  arithmetical  ratio.  Public  interest  and  general 
appreciation  of  the  value  of  time  have  also  effective- 
ly assisted  progress.  At  the  beginning  of  each  year 
the  President,  the  Governors  of  the  States,  and  the 
Mayors  of  cities  publish  a  prospectus  of  the  great 
improvements  needed,  contemplated,  and  under  way 
within  their  jurisdiction — it  may  be  planning  a  new 
boulevard,  a  new  park,  or  an  improved  system  of 
sewers ;  and  at  the  year's  end  they  issue  a  resume 
of  everything  completed,  and  the  progress  in  every- 
thing else ;  and  though  there  is  usually  a  great  differ- 
ence between  the  results  hoped  for  and  those  attained, 
the  effect  is  good.  The  newspapers  publish  at  length 
the  recommendations  of  the  Executives,  and  also  the 
results  obtained,  and  keep  up  public  interest  in  all 
important  matters. 

"  Free  to  delve  in  the  allurement  and  fascination 
of  science,  emancipated  man  goes  on  subduing  Na- 
ture, as  his  Maker  said  he  should,  and  turning  her 
giant  forces  to  his  service  in  his  constant  struggle  to 
rise  and  become  more  like  II im  who  gave  the  com- 
mandments and  showed  him  how  he  should  go. 

"  Notwithstanding  our  strides  in  material   prog- 


SKETCH  OF  THE  WORLD  IN  A.  D.  2000.         79 

ress,  we  are  not  entirely  content.  As  the  require- 
ments of  the  animal  become  fully  supplied,  we  feel 
a  need  for  something  else.  Some  say  this  is  like  a 
child  that  cries  for  the  moon,  but  others  believe  it 
the  awakenino:  and  cravino^  of  our  souls.  The  liisto- 
rian  narrates  but  the  signs  of  the  times,  and  strives  to 
efface  himself ;  yet  there  is  clearly  a  void,  becoming 
yearly  more  apparent,  w^hich  materialism  cannot  fill. 
Is  it  some  new  subtle  force  for  which  we  sigh,  or 
would  we  commune  with  spirits  ?  There  is,  so  far  as 
we  can  see,  no  limit  to  our  journey,  and  I  will  add,  in 
closing,  that,  with  the  exception  of  religion,  we  have 
most  to  hope  from  science." 


CHxVPTER  YI. 


FAR-EEACHIXG    PLANS. 


Knowing  tliat  the  rectification  of  the  earth's 
axis  was  satisfactorily  begun,  and  that  each  year 
would  show  an  increasing  improvement  in  climate, 
many  of  the  delegates,  after  hearing  Bear  warden's 
speech,  set  out  for  their  homes.  Those  from  the 
valley  of  the  Amazon  and  the  eastern  coast  of  South 
America  boarded  a  lightning  express  that  rushed 
them  to  Key  West  at  the  rate  of  three  hundred  miles 
an  hour.  The  railroad  had  six  tracks,  two  for 
through  passengers,  two  for  locals,  and  two  for 
freight.  There  they  took  a  "  water-spider,"  six 
hundred  feet  long  by  three  hundred  in  width,  the 
deck  of  which  was  one  hundred  feet  above  the  sur- 
face, which  carried  them  over  the  water  at  the  rate 
of  a  mile  a  minute,  around  the  eastern  end  of  Cuba, 
through   Windward   Passage,  and   so   to   the  South 

(80) 


FAR-KE ACHING  PLANS.  81 

American   mainland,    where    they    continued    their 
journey  by  rail. 

The  Siberian  and  Russian  delegates,  who,  of 
course,  felt  a  keen  interest  in  the  company's  proceed- 
ings, took  a  magnetic  double-ender  car  to  Bering 
Strait.  It  was  eighteen  feet  high,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  long,  and  had  two  stories.  The  upper,  with 
a  toughened  glass  dome  running  the  entire  length, 
descended  to  within  three  feet  of  the  floor,  and 
afforded  an  unobstructed  view  of  the  rushing 
scenery.  The  rails  on  which  it  ran  were  ten  feet 
apart,  the  wheels  being  beyond  the  sides,  like  those 
of  a  carriage,  and  fitted  with  ball  bearings  to  ridged 
axles.  The  car's  flexibility  allowed  it  to  follow  slight 
irregularities  in  the  track,  while  the  free,  independ- 
ent wheels  gave  it  a  great  advantage  in  rounding 
curves  over  cars  with  wheels  and  axle  in  one  cast- 
ing, in  which  one  must  slip  while  traversing  a 
greater  or  smaller  arc  than  the  other,  except  when 
the  slope  of  the  tread  and  the  centrifugal  force 
happen  to  correspond  exactly.  The  fact  of  having 
its  supports  outside  instead  of  underneath,  while 
increasing  its  stability,  also  enabled  the  lower  floor 
to   come   much   nearer  the  ground,  while   still   the 


82  A  JOURNEY   IN  OTHER   WORLDS. 

wheels  were  large.  Arriving  in  just  twenty  hours, 
they  ran  across  on  an  electric  ferry-boat,  capable  of 
carrying  several  dozen  cars,  to  East  Cape,  Siberia, 
and  then,  by  running  as  far  north  as  possible,  had  a 
short  cut  to  Europe. 

The  Patagonians  went  by  the  all-rail  Interconti- 
nental Line,  without  change  of  cars,  making  the  run 
of  ten  thousand  miles  in  forty  hours.  The  Austra- 
lians entered  a  flying  machine,  and  were  soon  out  of 
sight ;  while  the  Central  Americans  and  members 
from  other  States  of  the  Union  returned  for  the 
most  part  in  their  mechanical  phaetons. 

"  A  prospective  improvement  in  travelling,''  said 
Bearwarden,  as  he  and  his  friends  watched  the  crowd 
disperse,  "  will  be  when  we  can  rise  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  atmosphere,  wait  till  the  earth  revolves 
beneath  us,  and  descend  in  twelve  hours  on  the  other 
side." 

"  True,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  but  then  we  can  travel 
westward  only,  and  shall  have  to  make  a  complete 
circuit  when  we  wish  to  go  east." 

A  few  days  later  there  was  a  knock  at  President 
Bearwarden's  door,  while  lie  was  seated  at  his  desk 
looking  over  some  papers  and  other  matters.     Tak- 


FAR-REACHING   PLANS.  83 

ing  liis  foot  from  a  partly  opened  desk  drawer  where 
it  had  been  resting,  he  placed  it  upon  the  handle  of  a 
liandsome  brass-mounted  bellows,  which  proved  to 
be  articulating,  for,  as  he  pressed,  it  called  lustily, 
*'  Come  in  ! "  The  door  opened,  and  in  walked  Sec- 
retary of  State  Stillman,  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
Deepwaters,  who  was  himself  an  old  sailor,  Dr. 
Cortlandt,  Ayrault,  Yice-President  Dumby,  of  the 
T.  A.  S.  Co.,  and  two  of  the  company's  directors. 

"  Good-morning,"  said  Bearwarden,  as  he  shook 
hands  with  his  visitors.     "  Charmed  to  see  you." 

''  That's  a  great  invention,"  said  Secretary  Still- 
man,  examining  the  bellows.  "  We  must  get  Con- 
gress to  make  an  appropriation  for  its  introduc- 
tion in  the  department  buildings  in  Washington. 
You  have  no  idea  how  it  dries  my  throat  to  be  all 
the  time  shouting,  ^  Come  in  ! '  " 

"  Do  you  know,  Bearwarden,"  said  Secretary 
Deepwaters,  "I'm  afraid  when  we  have  this  mil- 
lennium of  climate  every  one  will  be  so  well  satisfied 
that  our  friend  here  (pointing  to  Secretary  Still- 
man  with  his  thumb)  will  have  nothing  to  do." 

"I  have  sometimes  thought  some  of  the  excite- 
ment will  be  gone,  and  the  struggle  of  the  '  survival 


84  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

of  the  fittest '  will  become  less  problematical,"  said 
Bearwarden. 

^'  The  earth  seems  destined  to  have  a  calm  old 
age,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  unless  we  can  look  to  the 
Cabinet  to  prevent  it." 

"  This  world  will  soon  be  a  dull  place.  I  wish  we 
could  leave  it  for  a  change,"  said  Ayrault.  *'  I  don't 
mean  forever,  of  course,  but  just  as  people  have 
grown  tired  of  remaining  like  plants  in  the  places 
in  which  thej  grew.  Man  has  been  a  caterpillar 
for  untold  ages ;  can  he  not  become  the  butterfly  ?" 

"  Since  we  have  found  out  how  to  straighten  the 
axis,"  said  Deepwaters,  "  might  we  not  go  one  bet- 
ter, and  improve  the  orbit  as  well? — increase  the  dif- 
ference between  aphelion  and  perihelion,  and  give 
those  that  still  like  a  chans^inor  climate  a  chance, 
while  incidentally  we  should  see  more  of  the  world 
— I  mean  the  solar  system — and,  by  enlarging  the 
parallax,  be  able  to  measure  the  distance  of  a  greater 
number  of  fixed  stars.  Put  your  helm  hard  down 
and  shout  ^  Hard-a-lee ! '  You  see,  there  is  nothing 
simpler.  You  keep  her  off  now,  and  six  months 
hence  you  let  her  luff." 

"  That's  an  idea ! "  said  Bearwarden.     "  Our  orbit 


FAR-REACHING  PLANS.  85 

could  be  enough  like  that  of  a  comet  to  cross  the 
orbits  of  both  Yenus  and  Mars;  and  the  climatic 
extremes  would  not  be  inconvenient.  The  whole 
earth  being  simultaneously  warmed  or  cooled,  there 
would  be  no  equinoctials  or  storms  resulting  from 
changes  on  one  part  of  the  surface  from  intense 
heat  to  intense  cold ;  every  part  would  have  a 
twelve-hour  day  and  night,  and  none  would  be 
turned  towards  or  from  the  sun  for  six  months  at 
a  time ;  for,  however  eccentric  the  orbit,  we  should 
keep  the  axis  absolutely  straight.  At  perihelion 
there  would  sim^ply  be  increased  evaporation  and 
clouds  near  the  equator,  which  would  shield  those 
regions  from  the  sun,  only  to  disappear  again  as 
the  earth  receded." 

^'  The  only  trouble,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  is  that  we 
should  have  no  fulcrum.  Straightening  the  axis 
is  simple  enough,  for  we  have  the  attraction  of  the 
sun  with  which  to  work,  and  we  have  but  to  in- 
crease it  at  one  end  while  decreasing  it  at  the  other, 
and  change  this  as  the  poles  change  their  inclination 
towards  the  sun,  to  bring  it  about.  If  a  comet  with 
a  sufficiently  large  head  would  but  come  along  and 
retard   us,  or  opportunely  give  us  a  pull,  or  if  we 


86  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

could  increase  the  attraction  of  the  other  planets  for 
us,  or  decrease  it  at  times,  it  might  be  done.  If  the 
force,  the  control  of  which  was  discovered  too  late 
to  help  us  straighten  the  axis,  could  be  applied  on 

a  sufficiently  large  scale  ;  if  apergy " 

"  I  have  it ! "  exclaimed  Ayrault,  jumping  up. 
"Apergy  will  do  it.  We  can  build  an  air-tight  pro- 
jectile, hermetically  seal  ourselves  within,  and  charge 
it  in  such  a  way  that  it  will  be  repelled  by  the 
magnetism  of  the  earth,  and  it  will  be  forced  from  it 
with  equal  or  greater  violence  than  that  with  which 
it  is  ordinarily  attracted.  I  believe  the  earth  has  but 
the  same  relation  to  space  that  the  individual  mole- 
cule has  to  any  solid,  liquid,  or  gaseous  matter  we 
know ;  and  that,  just  as  molecules  strive  to  fly  apart 
on  the  application  of  heat,  this  earth  will  repel  that 
projectile  when  electricity,  which  we  are  coming  to 
look  upon  as  another  form  of  heat,  is  properly 
applied.  It  must  be  so,  and  it  is  the  manifest 
destiny  of  the  race  to  improve  it.  Man  is 
a  spirit  cursed  with  a  mortal  body,  which  glues 
him  to  the  earth,  and  his  yearning  to  rise,  which 
is  innate,  is,  I  believe,  only  a  part  of  his  probation 
and  trial." 


FAR-REACHING   PLANS.  87 

"Show   US    liow   it   can   be   done,"    shouted   his 
listeners  in  chorus. 

"  Apergy  is  and  must  be  able  to  do  it,"  Ayrault 
continued.  "Throughout  Katare  we  find  a  system 
of  compensation.  The  centripetal  force  is  offset  by 
the  centrifugal;  and  when,  according  to  the  fable, 
the  crystal  complained  of  its  hard  lot  in  being  unable 
to  move,  while  the  eagle  could  soar  through  the  upper 
air  and  see  all  the  glories  of  the  world,  the  bird  re- 
plied, '  My  life  is  but  for  a  moment,  while  you,  set  in 
the  rock,  will  live  forever,  and  will  see  the  last  sun- 
rise that  flashes  upon  the  earth.' 

"We  know  that  Christ,  while  walking  on  the 
waves,  did  not  sink,  and  that  he  and  EUjah  were 
carried  up  into  heaven.  What  became  of  their 
material  bodies  we  cannot  tell,  but  they  were  cer- 
tainly superior  to  the  force  of  gravitation.  We 
•  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  in  miracles  any  natu- 
ral law  was  broken,  or  even  set  aside,  but  simply 
that  some  other  law,  whose  workings  we  do  not 
understand,  became  operative  and  modified  the  law 
that  otherwise  would  have  had  things  its  own  way. 
In  apergy  we  undoubtedly  have  the  counterpart  of 
gravitation,  which  must  exist,  or  Nature's  system  of 


88  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

compensation  is  broken.  May  we  not  believe  that  in 
Christ's  transfiguration  on  the  mount,  and  in  the 
appearance  of  Moses  and  EHas  with  him — doubtless 
in  the  flesh,  since  otherwise  mortal  eyes  could  not 
have  seen  them — apergy  came  into  play  and  upheld 
them ;  that  otherwise,  and  if  no  other  modification 
had  intervened,  they  would  have  fallen  to  the 
ground  ;  and  that  apergy  was,  in  other  words,  the 
working  principle  of  those  miracles  ? " 

"May  we  not  also  believe,"  added  Cortlandt, 
"  that  in  the  transfiguration  Christ's  companions  took 
the  substance  of  their  material  bodies — the  oxygen, 
hydrogen,  nitrogen,  and  carbon — from  the  air  and 
the  moisture  it  contained ;  for,  though  spiritual 
bodies,  be  their  activity  magnetic  or  any  other, 
could  of  course  pass  the  absolute  cold  and  void  of 
space  without  being  affected,  no  mortal  body  could  ; 
and  that  in  the  same  manner  Elijah's  body  dissolved 
into  air  without  the  usual  intervention  of  decompo- 
sition ;  for  we  know  that,  though  matter  can  easily 
change  its  form,  it  can  never  be  destroyed." 

All  assented  to  this,  and  Ayrault  continued  :  "  If 
apergy  can  annul  gravitation,  I  do  not  see  why  it 
should  not  do  more,  for  to  annul  it  the  repulsion  of 


FAR-REACHING  PLANS.  89 

the  eartli  tliat  it  produces  must  be  as  great  as  its  at- 
traction, unless  we  suppose  gravitation  for  the  time 
being  to  be  suspended ;  but  whether  it  is  or  not,  does 
not  affect  the  result  in  this  case,  for,  after  the  aper- 
getic  repulsion  is  brought  to  the  degree  at  which  a 
body  does  not  fall,  any  increase  in  the  current's 
strength  will  cause  it  to  rise,  and  in  the  case  of  elec- 
tro-magnets we  know  that  the  attraction  or  repulsion 
has  practically  no  limit.  This  will  be  of  great  ad- 
vantage to  us,"  he  continued,  "for  if  a  projectile 
could  move  away  from  the  earth  with  no  more  rapid 
acceleration  than  that  with  which  it  approaches,  it 
would  take  too  long  to  reach  the  nearest  planet,  but 
the  maximum  repulsion  being  at  the  start  by  reason 
of  its  proximit}^  to  the  eartli — for  apergy,  being  the 
counterpart  of  gravitation,  is  subject  to  Newton's  and 
Kepler's  laws — the  acceleration  of  a  body  aperget- 
ically  charged  will  be  greatest  at  first.  Two  inclined 
planes  may  have  the  same  fall,  but  a  ball  will  reach 
the  bottom  of  one  that  is  steepest  near  the  top  in 
less  time  than  on  any  other,  because  the  maximum 
acceleration  is  at  the  start.  We  are  all  tired  of  be- 
ing stuck  to  this  cosmical  speck,  with  its  monoto- 
nous  ocean,   leaden   sky,   and   single   moon   that  is 


90  A   JOURNEY  IN   OTHER   WORLDS. 

useless  more  tlian  lialf  the  time,  wliile  its  size  is  so 
microscopic  compared  with  the  universe  that  we  can 
traverse  its  great  circle  in  four  days.  Its  possibili- 
ties are  exhausted ;  and  just  as  Greece  became  too 
small  for  the  civilization  of  the  Greeks,  and  as  re- 
production is  growth  beyond  the  individual,  so  it 
seems  to  me  that  the  future  glory  of  the  human 
race  lies  in  exploring  at  least  the  solar  system,  with- 
out waitinof  to  become  shades." 

"  Should  you  propose  to  go  to  Mars  or  Yenus  ? " 
asked  Cortlandt. 

"  Xo,"  replied  Ayrault,  "  we  know  all  about 
Mars;  it  is  but  one  seventh  the  size  of  the  earth,  and 
as  the  axis  is  inclined  more  than  ours,  it  would  be  a 
less  comfortable  globe  than  this  ;  while,  as  our  presi- 
dent here  told  us  in  his  T.  A.  S.  Company's  report, 
the  axis  of  Yenus  is  inclined  to  such  a  degree  that  it 
would  be  almost  uninhabitable  for  us.  It  would  be 
as  if  colonists  tried  to  settle  Greenland,  or  had  come 
to  Xortli  America  during  its  Glacial  period.  Neither 
Yenus  nor  ^lars  would  be  a  good  place  now." 

"  AVlicre  should  you  propose  to  go  ?  "  asked  Still- 
man. 

"To  Jupiter,  and,  if  possible,  after  that  to  Sat- 


FAR-REACHIXG  PLANS.  91 

urn,"  replied  Ayrault ;  "  the  former's  mean  distance 
from  the  sun  is  480,000,000  miles ;  but,  as  our  presi- 
dent showed  us,  its  axis  is  so  nearly  straight  that  I 
think,  with  its  internal  warmth,  there  will  be  nothino: 
to  fear  from  cold.  Though,  on  account  of  the  plan- 
et's vast  size,  objects  on  its  surface  weigh  more  than 
twice  as  much  as  here,  if  I  am  able  to  reach  it  by 
means  of  apergy,  the  same  force  will  enable  me  to 
regulate  my  weight.     Will  any  one  go  with  me  ? " 

"  Splendid  !  "  said  Bearwarden.  "  If  Mr.  Dum- 
by,  our  vice-president,  will  temporarily  assume  my 
office,  nothing  will  give  me  greater  pleasure." 

''  So  will  I  go,  if  there  is  room  for  me,"  said 
Cortlandt.  "  I  will  at  once  resign  my  place  as 
Government  expert,  and  consider  it  the  grandest 
event  of  my  life." 

"  If  I  were  not  afraid  of  leaving  Stillman  here  to 
his  own  devices,  I'd  ask  for  a  berth  as  well,"  said 
Deepwaters. 

"  I  am  afraid,"  said  Stillman,  "  if  you  take  any 
more,  you  will  be  overcrowded." 

"  Modesty  forbids  his  saying,"  said  Deepwaters, 
"  that  it  wouldn't  do  for  the  country  to  have  all  its 

eggs  in  one  basket." 

7 


92  A  JOURNEY  IX   OTHER  WORLDS. 

^'  Are  YOU  not  afraid  you  will  find  the  surface 
hot,  or  even  molten  ? "  asked  Vice-President  Dumby. 
"  With  its  eighty-six  thousand  five  hundred  mile 
diameter,  the  amount  of  original  internal  heat  must 
have  been  terrific. '^ 

''  No,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  it  cannot  be  molten, 
or  even  in  the  least  degree  luminous,  for,  if  it 
were,  its  satellites  would  be  visible  when  they 
enter  its  shadow,  whereas  they  entirely  disappear." 

''  I  do  not  believe  Jupiter's  surface  is  even  per- 
ceptibly warm,"  said  Bearwarden.  "  We  know  that 
Algol,  known  to  the  ancients  as  the  '  Demon  Star,' 
and  several  other  variable  stars,  are  accompanied  by 
a  dark  companion,  with  which  they  revolve  about  a 
common  centre,  and  which  periodically  obscures  part 
of  their  light.  Now,  some  of  these  non-luminaries 
are  nearly  as  large  as  our  sun,  and,  of  course,  many 
hundred  times  the  size  of  Jupiter.  If  these  bodies 
liave  lost  enough  heat  to  be  invisible,  Jupiter's  sur- 
face at  least  nmst  be  nearly  cold." 

"  In  tlie  phosphorescence  of  sea-water,"  said 
Cortlandt,  "  and  in  other  instances  in  Nature,  we  find 
light  without  heat,  and  we  may  soon  be  able  to  pro- 
duce it  in  the  arts  by   oxidizing    coal  without    the 


FAR-REACHING  PLANS.  93 

intervention  of  tlie  steam  engine ;  but  we  never  find 
any  considerable  heat  without  hght." 

"  I  am  convinced,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  that  we 
shall  find  Juj^iter  habitable  for  intelligent  beings 
who  have  been  developed  on  a  more  advanced  sphere 
than  itself,  though  I  do  not  believe  it  has  progressed 
far  enough  in  its  evolution  to  produce  them.  I  ex- 
pect to  find  it  in  its  Palseozoic  or  Mesozoic  period, 
while  over  a  hundred  years  ago  the  English  astrono- 
mer, Chambers,  thought  that  on  Saturn  there  was 
good  reason  for  suspecting  the  presence  of  snow." 

"  AVhat  sort  of  space-ship  do  you  propose  to 
have  ?  "  asked  the  vice-president. 

"  As  you  have  to  pass  through  but  little  air,"  said 
Deepwaters,  "I  should  suggest  a  short-stroke  cylin- 
der of  large  diameter,  with  a  flat  base  and  dome  roof, 
composed  of  aluminum,  or,  still  better,  of  glucinum 
or  beryllium  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  which  is  twice 
as  good  a  conductor  of  electricity  as  aluminum,  four 
limes  as  strong,  and  is  the  lightest  of  all  known 
metals,  having  a  specific  gravity  of  only  two,  which 
last  property  will  be  of  great  use  to  you,  for  of 
course  the  more  weight  you  have  to  propel  the  more 
apergetic  repulsion  you  will  have  to  develop." 


94  A  JOURNEY   IX  0TIIP:R   worlds. 

"  I  will  get  some  drawing-paper  I  left  outside  iu 
my  trap,"  said  Ayrault,  ''  when  with  your  ideas  we 
may  arrive  at  something  definite,"  saying  which,  he 
left  the  room. 

"  He  seems  very  cynical  in  his  ideas  of  life  and 
the  world  in  general,"  said  Secretary  Stillman,  "  for 
a  man  of  his  age,  and  one  that  is  engaged." 

''You  see,"  replied  Bearwarden,  '' \\\^  fiancee  is 
not  yet  a  senior,  being  in  the  class  of  two  thousand 
and  one  at  Yassar,  and  so  cannot  marry  him  for  a 
year.  Xot  till  next  June  can  this  sweet  girl 
graduate  come  forth  with  her  mortar-board  and 
sheepskin  to  enlighten  the  world  and  make  him 
happy.  That  is,  I  suspect,  one  reason  why  he  pro- 
posed this  trip." 


CHAPTER  YIL 


HARD    AT    WORK. 


In  a  few  moments  Ayrault  returned  with  pencils, 
a  pair  of  compasses,  and  paper. 

"  Let  us  see,  in  the  first  place,"  said  Deepwaters, 
"  how  long  the  journey  will  take.  Since  a  stone  falls 
16'09  feet  the  first  second,  and  64  -|-  feet  the  next,  it 
is  easy  to  calculate  at  what  rate  your  speed  would  in- 
crease with  the  repulsion  twice  that  of  the  ordinary 
traction.  But  I  think  this  would  be  too  slow.  It 
will  be  best  to  treble  or  quadruple  the  apergetic 
charge,  which  can  easily  be  done,  in  which  case  your 
speed  will  exceed  the  muzzle-velocity  of  a  projectile 
from  a  long-range  gun,  in  a  few  seconds.  As  the 
earth's  repulsion  decreases,  the  attraction  of  Mars  and 
Jupiter  will  increase,  and,  there  being  no  resistance, 
your  gait  will  become  more  and  more  rapid  till  it  is 
necessary  to  reverse  the  charge  to  avoid  being  dashed 

(95) 


96  A   JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

to  pieces  or  being  consumed  like  a  falling  star  by  the 
friction  in  passing  through  Jupiter's  atmosphere. 
You  can  be  on  the  safe  side  by  checking  your  speed 
in  advance.  You  must,  of  course,  be  careful  to  avoid 
collisions  with  meteors  and  asteroids ;  but  if  you  do, 
they  will  be  of  use  to  you,  for  by  attracting  or  repel- 
ling them  you  can  change  your  course  to  suit  yourself, 
and  also  theirs  in  inverse  ratio  to  their  masses.  Jupi- 
ter's moons  will  be  like  head  and  stern  lines  in  ena- 
bling you  to  choose  the  part  of  the  surface  on  whiclv 
you  wish  to  land.  With  apergy  it  is  as  essential  to 
have  some  heavy  body  on  which  to  work,  within 
range,  as  to  have  water  about  a  ship's  propellers. 
Whether,  when  apergy  is  developed,  gravitation  is 
temporarily  annulled,  or  reversed  like  the  late  attrac- 
tion of  a  magnet  when  the  current  is  changed,  or 
whether  it  is  merely  overpowered,  in  which  case  your 
motion  will  be  the  resultant  of  the  two,  is  an  un- 
settled and  not  very  important  point ;  for,  though 
we  know  but  little  more  of  the  nature  of  electricity 
than  was  known  a  hundred  years  ago,  this  does  not 
prevent  our  producing  and  using  it." 

^'  Jupiter,  when  in  opposition,"  he  continued,  "  is 
about  380,000,000  miles  from  us,  and  it  takes  light, 


HARD  AT  WORK.  97 

which  travels  at  the  rate  of  190,000  miles  a  second, 
just  thirty-four  minutes  to  reach  the  earth  from 
Jupiter.  If  we  suppose  the  average  speed  of  your 
ship  to  be  one-five-hundredth  as  great,  it  will  take 
you  just  eleven  days,  nineteen  hours  and  twenty 
minutes  to  make  the  journey.  You  will  have  a  fine 
view  of  Mars  and  the  asteroids,  and  when  1,169,000 
miles  from  Jupiter,  will  cross  the  orbit  of  Callisto, 
the  fifth  moon  in  distance  from  the  giant  planet. 
That  will  be  your  best  point  to  steer  by." 

"  I  think,"  said  Ayrault,  "  as  that  will  be  the  first 

member  of  Jupiter's  system  we  pass,  and  as  it  will 

%uide  us  into  port,  it  would  be  a  good  name  for  our 

ship,  and   you   must  christen   her   if  we   have   her 

launched." 

"  ITo,  no,"  said  Deepwaters,  "  Miss  Preston  must 
do  that ;  but  we  certainly  should  have  a  launch,  for 
you  might  have  to  land  in  the  water,  and  you  must 
be  sure  the  ship  is  tight." 

"  Talking  of  tight  ships,"  said  Bearwarden,  pass- 
ing a  decanter  of  claret  to  Stillman,  "  may  remind  us 
that  it  is  time  to  splice  the  '  main  brace.'  There's  a 
bottle  of  whisky  and  some  water  just  behind  you," 
he  added  to  Deepwaters,  "  while  three  minutes  after 


98  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

I  ring  this  bell,"  he  said,  pressing  a  button  and  jerk- 
ing a  handle  marked  '  8,'  "  the  champagne  cocktails 
will  be  on  the  desk." 

"  I  see  you  know  his  ways,"  said  Stillman  to 
Eearwarden,  drooping  his  eyes  in  Deepwaters's  direc- 
tion. 

^' Oh,  yes,  I've  been  here  before,"  replied  Deep- 
waters.  "  You  see,  we  navy  men  have  to  hustle  now- 
a-days,  and  can't  pass  our  time  in  a  high-backed  chair, 
talking  platitudes." 

At  this  moment  there  was  a  slight  rumbling,  and 
eight  champagne  cocktails,  with  the  froth  still  on,  and 
straws  on  a  separate  plate,  shot  in  and  landed  on  a 
corner  of  the  desk. 

"  Help  yourselves,  gentlemen,"  said  Bearwarden, 
placing  them  on  a  table ;  "  I  hope  we  shall  find 
them  cold." 

"  Do  you  know,"  said  Deepwaters  to  Ayrault, 
while  rapidly  making  his  cocktail  disappear,  "  the 
Callisto's  cost  with  its  outfit  will  l)e  very  great, 
especially  if  you  use  glucinum,  which,  though  the 
ideal  metal  for  the  purpose,  comes  pretty  high  ?  I 
suggest  that  you  apply  to  Congress  for  an  appropri- 
ation.    This  experiment  comes  under  the  '  Promotion 


HARD   AT   WORK.  99 

of  Science  Act,'  and  any  bill  for  it  would  certainly 
pass." 

"  No,  indeed,"  replied  Ayrault ;  "  the  Callisto  trip 
will  be  a  privilege  and  glor}^!  would  not  miss,  and 
building  her  will  be  a  part  of  it.  I  shall  put  in  every- 
thing conducive  to  success,  but  will  come  to  the  Gov- 
ernment only  for  advice." 

"  I  will  send  a  letter  to  all  our  ambassadors  and 
consuls,"  said  Stillman,  "to  telegraph  the  depart- 
ment anything  they  may  know  or  learn  that  will  be 
of  use  in  adjusting  the  batteries,  controlling  the 
machine,  or  anything  else,  and  will  turn  over  to  you 
in  a  succinct  form  all  information  that  may  be 
relevant,  for  without  such  sorting  you  would  be 
overwhelmed." 

"  And  I,"  said  Deepwaters,  "  will  order  the  com- 
manders of  our  vessels  to  give  you  a  farewell  salute 
at  starting,  and  to  pick  you  up  in  case  you  fail. 
"When  you  have  demonstrated  the  suitability  of 
apergy,"  he  continued,  "and  the  hahitability  of 
Jupiter  and  Saturn — which,  with  their  five  and  eight 
moons,  respectively,  and  rings  thrown  in,  must  both  be 
vastly  superior  to  our  little  second-rate  globe — we  will 
see  what  can  be  done  towards  changing  our  orbit,  and 


100  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 

if  we  cannot  swing  a  little  nearer  to  our  new  world 
or  worlds.  Then  we'll  lower,  or  rather  raise,  the  boats 
in  the  shape  of  numerous  Callistos,  and  have  a  land- 
ing-party ready  at  ea«ii  opposition,  while  a  man  or 
two  can  be  placed  in  charge  of  each  projectile  to 
bring  it  back  in  ballast.  Thus  we  may  soon  have 
regular  interplanetary  lines." 

"  As  every  place  seems  to  have  been  settled  from 
some  other,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  I  do  not  see  why,  with 
increased  scientific  facilities,  history  should  not  re- 
peat itself,  and  this  be  the  point  from  w^hich  to  colo- 
nize the  solar  system ;  for,  for  the  present  at  least,  it 
would  seem  that  we  could  not  get  beyond  that." 

"As  it  will  be  quite  an  undertaking  to  change 
the  orbit,"  said  Deepwaters,  "we  shall  have  time 
meanwhile  to  absorb  or  run  out  all  inferior  races,  so 
that  we  shall  not  make  the  mistake  of  extending  the 
Tower  of  Babel." 

"  He  is  putting  on  his  war-paint,"  said  Stillman, 
"  and  will  soon  want  a  planet  to  himself." 

"  I  see  no  necessity  for  even  changing  the  orbit," 
said  Bearwarden,  "except  for  the  benefit  of  those 
that  remain.  If  this  attempt  succeeds,  it  can  doubt- 
less be  repeated.     An  increase  in  eccentricity  would 


HARD  AT  WORK.  101 

merely  shorten  the  journey,  if  aphehon  always  coin- 
cided with  opposition,  which  it  would  not." 

"  Let  us  know  how  you  are  getting  on,"  said 
Deepwaters  to  Ayrault,  "and  be  sure  you  have  the 
Callisto  properly  christened.  Step  lively  there,  land- 
lubbers ! "  he  called  to  Stillman ;  "  I  have  an  appoint- 
ment at  Washington  at  one,  and  it  is  now  twenty 
minutes  past  twelve.     We  can  lunch  on  the  way." 

Ayrault  immediately  advertised  for  bids  for  the 
construction  of  a  glucinum  cylinder  twenty-five  feet 
in  diameter,  fifteen   feet  high  at   the  sides,  with  a 
domed  roof,  bringing  up  the  total  height  to  twenty- 
one  feet,  and  with  a  small  gutter  about  it  to  catch 
the  rain  on  Jupiter  or  any  other  planet  they  might 
visit.     The  sides,  roof,  and  floor  were  to  consist  of 
two  sheets,  each  one  third  of  an  inch  thick  and  six 
inches   apart,  the   space  between   to   be   filled  with 
mineral  wool,  as  a  protection  against  the  intense  cold 
of  space.     There  were  also  to  be  several  keels  and 
supports  underneath,  on  which  the  car  should  rest. 
Large,  toughened  plate-glass  windows  were  to  be  let 
into  the  roof  and  sides,  and  smaller  ones  in  the  floor, 
all  to  be  furnished  with  thick  shades  and  curtains. 
Ayrault  also   decided  to  have  it   dialed   into  two 


102  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

stories,  with  ceilings  six  and  a  lialf  to  seven  and  a 
half  feet  high,  respectively,  with  a  sort  of  crow's 
nest  or  observatory  at  the  top ;  the  floors  to  be  lat- 
tice-work, like  those  in  the  engine-room  of  a  steamer, 
so  that  when  the  carpets  were  rolled  up  they  should 
not  greatly  obstruct  the  view.  The  wide,  flat  base 
and  the  low  centre  of  gravity  would,  he  saw,  be  of 
use  in  withstanding  the  high  winds  that  he  knew 
often  prevailed  on  Ju])iter. 

As  soon  as  possible  he  awarded  the  contract,  and 
then  entering  his  smart  electric  trap,  steered  for  Yas- 
sar  University  along  what  was  the  old  post-road — 
though  its  builders  would  not  have  recognized  it 
with  its  asphalt  surface,  straightened  curves,  and  easy 
grades — to  ask  his  idol  to  christen  the  Callisto  when 
it  should  be  finished. 

Starting  from  the  upper  end  of  Central  Park,  he 
stopped  to  buy  her  a  bunch  of  violets,  and  then  ran 
to  Poughkeepsie  in  two  hours. 

Sylvia  Preston  was  a  lovely  girl,  with  blue  eyes, 
brown  hair,  and  perfect  figure,  clear  white  skin,  and 
just  twenty.  She  was  delighted  to  see  him,  and  said 
she  would  love  to  christen  tlie  Callisto  or  do  any- 
thing  else    that  he  wished.      "  But  I  am  so  sorry 


HARD  AT  WORK.  103 

you  are  going  away,"  she  went  on.  ''  I  liate  to 
lose  you  for  so  long,  and  we  shall  not  even  be  able 
to  write." 

"  Why  couldn't  we  be  married  now,"  he  asked, 
'"  and  go  to  Jupiter  for  our  honeymoon  ? " 

"  I'm  afraid,  dear,"  she  answered,  "  you  would  be 
sorry  a  few  years  hence  if  I  didn't  take  my  degree ; 
and,  besides,  as  you  have  asked  those  other  men, 
there  wouldn't  be  room  for  me." 

"  We  could  have  made  other  arrangements,"  he 
replied,  "  had  I  been  able  to  persuade  you  to  go." 

"Won't  you  dine  with  us  at  Delmonico's  this 
evening,  and  go  to  the  play  ? "  she  asked.  "  Papa  has 
taken  a  box." 

"  Of  course  I  will,"  he  said,  brightening  up. 
"  What  are  you  going  to  wear  ? " 

"  Oh,  I  suppose  something  light  and  cool,  for  it's 
so  hot,"  she  answered. 

"  I'll  go  now,  so  as  to  be  ready,"  he  said,  getting 
up  and  going  towards  the  door,  to  which  Sylvia 
followed  him. 

A  man  in  livery  stood  at  the  step  of  the  phaeton. 
Ayrault  got  in  and  turned  on  the  current,  and  his 
man  climbed  up  behind. 


104  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

On  turDing  into  the  main  road  Ayrault  was  about 
to  increase  his  speed,  when  Sylvia,  who  had  taken  a 
short  cut,  appeared  at  the  wayside  carrying  her  liat 
in  one  hand  and  her  gloves  in  the  other. 

"  I  couldn't  let  yon  go  all  by  yourself,"  she  said. 
''  The  fact  is,  I  wanted  to  be  with  you.'' 

"  You  are  the  sweetest  thing  that  ever  lived,  and 
I'll  love  you  all  my  days,"  he  said,  getting  down  and 
helping  Sylvia  to  the  seat  beside  him.  "AVhat  a 
nuisance  this  fellow  behind  is !  "  he  continued — refer- 
ring to  the  groom — "  for,  though  he  is  a  Russian,  and 
speaks  but  little  English,  it  is  unpleasant  to  feel  he  is 
there." 

"  You'll  have  to  write  your  sweet  nothings,  in- 
stead of  saying  them,"  Sylvia  replied. 

"  For  you  to  leave  around  for  other  girls  to  see," 
answered  Ayrault  with  a  smile. 

''  I  don't  know  what  your  other  girls  do,"  she  re- 
turned, "  but  with  me  you  are  safe." 

Ayrault  fairly  made  his  phaeton  spin,  going  up 
the  grades  like  a  shot  and  down  like  a  bird.  On 
reaching  Xew  York,  he  left  Sylvia  at  her  house,  then 
ran  his  machine  to  a  florist's,  where  he  ordered  some 
lilies  and  roses,  and  then  steered  his  way  to  his  club, 


HARD  AT  WORK.  105 

where  lie  dressed  for  dinner.  Shortly  before  the 
time  he  repaired  to  Delmonico's— which  name  had 
become  historical,  though  the  foimders  themselves 
were  long  dead— and  sat  guard  at  a  table  till  Sylvia, 
wearing  his  flowers  and  looking  more  beautiful  than 
any  of  them,  arrived  with  her  mother  and  father,  and 
Bearwarden,  whom  they  knew  very  well. 

"  How  are  the  exams  getting  on,  Miss  Preston  ? " 
Bearwarden  asked. 

"  Pretty  well,"  she  replied,  with  a  smile.  "  We 
had  English  literature  yesterday,  and  natural  history 
the  day  before.  Next  week  we  have  chemistry  and 
philosophy." 

"AYhat  are  you  taking  in  natural  history?" 
asked  Bearw^arden,  with  interest. 

"Oh,  principally  physical  geography,  geology, 
and  meteorology,"  she  replied.  "  I  think  them  en- 
trancing." 

"  It  must  be  a  consolation,"  said  Ayrault,  "  when 
your  best  hat  is  spoiled  by  rain,  to  know  the  reason 
why.  Your  average,"  he  continued,  addressing 
Sylvia,  "was  ninety  in  the  semi-annuals,  and  I 
haven't  a  doubt  that  the  finals  will  maintain  your 
record  for  the  year." 


106  A  JOCRXEY   IX   OTHER  WORLDS. 

"  Don't  be  too  sure,"  she  replied.  "  I  have  been 
loafing  awfully,  and  had  to  engage  a  '  grind '  as  a 
coach." 

After  dinner  they  went  to  the  play,  where  they 
saw  a  presentation  of  Society  at  the  Close  of  the 
Twentieth  Century,  which  Sylvia  and  Ayrault  en- 
joyed immensely. 

A  few  days  after  the  Delmonico  dinner,  while 
Bearwarden,  Cortlandt,  and  Ayrault  sat  together 
discussing  their  plans,  the  servant  announced  Ay- 
rault's  family  physician,  Dr.  Tubercle  Germiny, 
who  had  been  requested  to  call. 

"  Delighted  to  see  you,  doctor,"  said  Ayrault, 
shaking  hands.  "  You  know  Col.  Bearwarden,  our 
President,  and  Dr.  Cortlandt — an  LL.  D.,  however, 
and  not  a  medico. "^^ 

*'  I  have  had  the  pleasure,"  replied  Dr.  Germiny, 
shaking  hands  with  both. 

"  As  you  may  be  aware,  doctor,"  said  Ayrault, 
when  they  were  seated,  "  we  are  about  to  take  a 
short  trip  to  Jupiter,  and,  if  time  allows,  to  Saturn. 
We  have  come  to  you,  as  one  familiar  with  every 
known  germ,  for  a  few  precautionary  suggestions 
and  advice  concerning  our  medicine-chest." 


HARD  AT  WORK.  107 

"  Indeed ! "  replied  Dr.  Germiny,  "  a  tlior- 
oiigli  knowledge  of  bacteriology  is  the  groundwork 
of  therapeutics.  It  is  practically  admitted  that  every 
ailment,  with  the  exception  of  mechanical  injuries, 
is  the  direct  result  of  a  specific  germ  ;  and  even  in 
accidents  and  simple  fractures,  no  matter  what  may 
be  the  nature  of  the  bruise,  a  micro-organism  soon 
announces  its  presence,  so  that  if  not  the  parent,  it  is 
the  inseparable  companion,  in  fact  the  shadow,  of 
disease.  ISTow,  though  not  the  first  cause  in  this 
instance,  it  has  been  indubitably  proved,  that  much 
of  the  effect,  the  fever  and  pain,  are  produced  and 
continued  by  the  active,  omnipresent,  sleepless  sperm. 
Either  kill  the  micrococcus  or  lieal  the  wound,  and 
you  are  free  from  both.  It  being,  therefore,  granted 
that  the  ills  of  life  are  in  the  air,  we  have  but  to  find 
the  peculiar  nature  of  the  case  in  hand,  its  habits, 
tastes,  and  constitution,  in  order  to  destroy  it.  Im- 
poverish the  soil  on  which  it  thrives,  before  its 
arrival,  if  you  can  foresee  the  nature  of  the  inocula- 
tion to  which  you  will  be  exposed,  by  a  dilute 
solution  of  itself,  and  supply  it  only  with  what  it 
particularly  dislikes.  lor  an  already  established 
tubercle  requiring  rapid  action  of  the  blood,  such  as 


108  A  JOL'RNEY  IN   OTHER  WORLDS. 

may  well  exist  among  the  birds  and  vertebrates  of 
Jupiter  and  Saturn,  I  suggest  a  hypodermic  rattle- 
snake injection,  while  hydrocyanic  acid  and  taran- 
tula saliva  may  also  come  in  well.  The  combinations 
that  so  long  destroyed  us  have  already  become  our 
panacea." 

''  I  see  you  have  these  poisons  at  your  fingers' 
ends,"  said  Ayrault,  "  and  we  shall  feel  the  utmost 
confidence  in  the  remedies  and  directions  you  pre- 
scribe." 

They  found  that,  in  addition  to  their  medicine- 
chest,  they  would  have  to  make  room  for  the  follow- 
ing articles,  and  also  many  more :  six  shot-guns 
(three  double-barrel  12-bores,  three  magazine  10- 
bores,)  three  rifles,  three  revolvers  ;  a  large  supply 
of  ammunition  (explosive  and  solid  balls),  hunting- 
knives,  fishing-tackle,  compass,  sextant,  geometrical 
instruments,  canned  food  for  forty  days,  appliance 
for  renewing  air,  clothing,  rubber  boots,  apergetic 
apparatus,  protection-wires,  aneroid  barometer,  and 
kodaks. 


CHAPTER  YIII. 

GOOD-BYE. 

At  last  the  preparations  were  completed,  and  it 
was  arrano^ed  that  the  Callisto  should  beo^in  its 
journey  at  eleven  o'clock  a.  m.,  December  21st — the 
nortliern  hemisphere's  shortest  day. 

Though  six  months'  operations  could  hardly  be 
expected  to  have  produced  much  change  in  the  in- 
clination of  the  earth's  axis,  the  autumn  held  on 
wonderfully,  and  December  was  pronounced  very 
mild.  Fully  a  million  people  were  in  and  about 
Van  Cortlandt  Park  hours  before  the  time  an- 
nounced for  the  start,  and  those  near  looked  in- 
quiringly at  the  trim  little  air-ship,  that,  having 
done  well  on  the  trial  trip,  rested  on  her  longitudinal 
and  transverse  keels,  with  a  battery  of  chemicals 
alongside,  to  make  sure  of  a  full  power  supply. 

The    President   and    his  Cabinet — including,    of 

(109) 


110  ^  JOURNEY   IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 

course,  the  shining  lights  of  tlie  State  and  Navy 
Departments — came  from  Washington.  These,  to- 
gether with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Preston,  and  a  number  of 
people  with  passes,  occupied  seats  arranged  at  the 
sides  of  the  platform  ;  while  sightseers  and  scientists 
assembled  from  every  part  of  the  world. 

"  There's  a  ship  for  you !  "  said  Secretary  Still- 
man  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  "  She'll  not  have 
to  be  dry-docked  for  barnacles,  neither  will  the  least 
breeze  make  the  passengers  sick." 

"That's  all  you  land-lubbers  think  of,"  replied 
Deepwaters.  "  I  remember  one  of  the  kings  over  in 
Europe  said  to  me,  as  he  introduced  me  to  the  queen  : 
*Your  Secretary  of  State  is  a  great  man,  but  why 
does  he  always  part  his  hair  in  the  middle  ? ' 

" '  So  that  it  shall  not  turn  his  head,'  I  replied. 

"  ^  But  with  so  gallant  and  handsome  an  officer  as 
you  to  lean  upon,'  he  answered,  '  I  should  think  he 
could  look  down  on  all  the  world.'  Whereupon  I 
asked  him  what  he'd  take  to  drink." 

"  Your  apology  is  accepted,"  replied  Secretary 
Stillman. 

Cortlandt  also  came  from  Washington,  where,  as 
chief  uf  the  Government's  Expert  Examiners  Board, 


GOOD-BYE.  Ill 

he  had  temporary  quarters.  Bearwarden  sailed  over 
the  spectators'  heads  in  one  of  the  Terrestrial  Axis 
Straightening  Company's  flying  machines,  while  Ay- 
rault,  to  avoid  the  crowd,  had  come  to  the  Callisto 
early,  and  was  showing  the  interior  arrangements  to 
Sylvia,  who  had  accompanied  him.  She  was  some- 
what piqued  hecause  at  the  last  moment  he  had  not 
absolutely  insisted  on  carrying  her  off,  or  offered,  if 
necessary,  to  displace  his  presidential  and  Doctor-of- 
Laws  friends  in  order  to  make  room. 

"  You  will  have  an  ideal  trip,"  she  said,  looking 
over  some  astronomical  star-charts  and  photographic 
maps  of  Jupiter  and  Saturn  that  lay  on  the  table, 
with  a  pair  of  compasses,  "  and  I  hope  you  won't  lose 
your  way." 

"  I  shall  need  no  compass  to  find  my  way  back," 
replied  Ayrault,  "  if  I  ever  succeed  in  leaving  this 
planet ;  neither  will  star-charts  be  necessary,  for  you 
will  be  a  magnet  stronger  than  any  compass,  and, 
compared  with  my  star,  all  others  are  dim." 

"  You  should  write  a  book,"  said  Sylvia,  ''  and 
put  some  of  those  things  in  it."  She  was  wearing  a 
bunch  of  forget-me-nots  and  violets  that  she  had  cut 
from  a  small  flower  garden  of  potted  plants  Ayrault 


112  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

had  sent  her,  which  she  had  placed  in  her  father's 
conservatory. 

At  tliis  moment  the  small  chime  clock  set  in  the 
Callisto's  wood-work  rang  out  quarter  to  eleven.  As 
the  sounds  died  away,  Sylvia  became  very  pale,  and 
began  to  regret  in  her  womanly  way  that  she  had 
allowed  her  hero  to  attempt  this  experiment. 

"  Oh,"  she  said,  clinging  to  his  arm,  "  it  was  very 
wrong  of  me  to  let  you  begin  this.  I  was  so  dazzled 
by  the  splendour  of  your  scheme  when  I  heard  it, 
and  so  anxious  that  you  should  have  the  glory  of  be- 
ing the  first  to  surpass  Columbus,  that  I  did  not  real- 
ize the  full  meaning.  I  thought,  also,  you  seemed 
rather  ready  to  leave  me,-'  she  added  gently,  ^"  and  so 
said  little  ;  you  do  not  know  how  it  almost  breaks 
my  heart  now  that  I  am  about  to  lose  you.  It  was 
quixotic  to  let  you  undertake  this  journey." 

"An  undertaker  would  have  given  me  his  kind 
ofiices  for  one  even  longer,  had  I  remained  here,"  re- 
plied Ayrault.  "  I  cannot  live  in  this  humdrum 
world  without  you.  The  most  sustained  excitement 
cannot  even  palliate  what  seems  to  me  like  unre- 
quited love." 

"0    Dick!"    she    exclaimed,    fiivinc:   him   a    re- 


GOOD-BYE.  113 

proaclif  111  glance,  "  you  mustn't  say  that.  You  know 
you  have  often  told  me  my  reason  for  staying  and 
taking  my  degree  was  good.  My  lot  will  be  very 
much  harder  than  yours,  for  you  will  forget  me  in 
the  excitement  of  discovery  and  adventure  ;  but  I — 
what  can  I  do  in  the  midst  of  all  the  old  associa- 
tions ? " 

"  Never  mind,  sweetheart,"  he  said,  kissing  her 
hand,  "  I  have  seemed  on  the  verge  of  despair  all  the 
time." 

Seeing  that  their  separation  must  shortly  begin, 
Ayrault  tried  to  assume  a  cheerful  look ;  but  as 
Sylvia  turned  her  eyes  away  they  were  suspiciously 
moist. 

Just  one  minute  before  the  starting-time  Ayranlt 
took  Sylvia  back  to  her  mother,  and,  after  pressing 
her  hand  and  having  one  last  long  look  into  her — or, 
as  he  considered  them,  his — deep-sea  eyes,  he  returned 
to  the  Callisto,  and  was  standing  at  the  foot  of  the 
telescopic  aluminum  ladder  when  his  friends  arrived. 
As  all  baggage  and  impedimenta  had  been  sent  aboard 
and  properly  stowed  the  day  before,  the  travellers 
had  nothing  to  do  but  climb  to  and  enter  by  the 
second-story  window. 


114  A  JOL'RNEY  IN   OTHER  WORLDS. 

It  distressed  Bearwarden  that  the  north  pole's 
exact  declination  on  the  21st  day  of  December,  when 
the  axis  was  most  inclined,  could  not  be  figured  out 
by  the  hour  at  which  they  were  to  start,  so  as  to 
show  what  change,  if  any,  had  already  been  brought 
about,  but  the  astronomers  were  working  industri- 
ously, and  promised  that,  if  it  were  finished  by  mid- 
night, they  would  telegraph  the  result  into  space  by 
flash-light  code. 

Raising  his  hat  to  \\is>  fiancee  and  his  prospective 
parents-in-lav7,  Ayrault  followed  them  up.  To  draw 
in  and  fold  the  ladder  was  but  the  work  of  a  moment. 
As  the  clocks  in  the  neighbouring  steeples  began  to 
strike  eleven,  Ayrault  touched  the  switch  that  would 
correspond  to  the  throttle  of  an  engine,  and  the 
motors  began  to  work  at  rapidly  increasing  speed. 
Slowly  the  Callisto  left  her  resting-place  as  a  Galatea 
might  her  pedestal,  only,  instead  of  coming  down,  she 
rose  still  higher. 

A  large  American  flag  hanging  from  the  window, 
which,  as  they  started,  fluttered  as  in  a  southern 
zephyr,  soon  Ijegan  to  flap  as  in  a  stiff  breeze  as  the 
car's  speed  increased.  With  a  final  wave,  at  which  a 
battery  of  twenty-one  field-pieces  made  the  air  ring 


The  Callisto  was  going  straight  up 


GOOD-BYE.  115 

with  a  salute,  and  the  multitude  raised  a  mighty 
cheer,  they  drew  it  in  and  closed  the  window,  seal- 
ing it  hermetically  in  order  to  keep  in  the  air  that, 
had  an  opening  remained,  would  soon  have  become 
rarefied. 

Sylvia  had  waved  her  handkerchief  with  the  ut- 
most enthusiasm,  in  spite  of  the  sadness  at  her  heart. 
But  she  now  had  other  use  for  it  in  trying  to 
hide  her  tears.  The  Callisto  w^as  still  going 
straight  up,  with  a  speed  already  as  great  as  a  can- 
non ball's,  and  was  almost  out  of  sight.  The  multi- 
tude then  began  to  disperse,  and  Sylvia  returned  to 
her  home. 

Let  us  now  follow  the  Callisto.  The  earth  and 
Jupiter  not  being  exactly  in  opposition,  as  they  would 
be  if  the  sun,  the  earth,  and  Jupiter  were  in  line, 
with  the  earth  between  the  two,  but  rather  as  shown 
in  the  diagram,  the  Callisto's  journey  was  consider- 
ably more  than  380,000,000  miles,  the  mean  oppo- 
sition distance.  As  they  wished  to  start  by  daylight 
— i.  e.,  from  the  side  of  the  earth  turned  towards  the 
sun — they  could  not  steer  immediately  for  Jupiter, 
but  were  obliged  to  go  a  few  hundred  miles  in  the 
direction  of  the    sun,  then    change    their  course  to 


116  "   A  JOURNEY  IN   OTHER   WORLDS. 

something  like  a  tangent  to  the  earth,  and  get  their 
final  right  direction  in  swinging  near  the  moon,  since 
they  must  be  comparatively  near  some  material  ob- 
ject to  bring  apergy  into  play. 

The  maximum  power  being  turned  on,  the  projec- 
tile shot  from  the  earth  with  tremendous  and  rapid- 
ly increasing  speed,  by  the  shortest  course — i.  e.,  a 
straight  line — so  that  for  the  present  it  was  not  neces- 
sary to  steer.  Until  beyond  tlie  limits  of  thfe  atmos- 
phere they  kept  the  greatest  apergetic  repulsion 
focused  on  the  upper  part  of  their  cylinder,  so  that 
its  point  went  first,  and  they  encountered  least  pos- 
sible resistance.  Lookino^  throuo^h  the  floor  win- 
dows,  therefore,  the  travellers  had  a  most  superb 
view.  The  air  being  clear,  the  eastern  border  of 
Xorth  America  and  the  Atlantic  were  outlined  as  on 
a  map,  the  blue  of  the  ocean  and  brownish  colour  of 
the  land,  with  white  snow-patches  on  the  elevations, 
being  very  marked.  The  Hudson  and  the  Sound 
appeared  as  clearly  defined  blue  ribbons,  and  be- 
tween and  around  the  two  they  could  see  Kew  York. 
They  also  saw  the  ocean  dotted  for  miles  with  points 
in  which  they  recognized  the  marine  spiders  and 
cruisers  of  the   Korth    Atlantic   squadron,  and   the 


GOOD-BYE.  117 

ships  on  the   home  station,  which  they  knew  were 
watching  them  through  their  glasses. 

''  I  see,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  that  Deep  waters  has 
been  as  good  as  his  word,  and  has  his  ships  on  the 
watch  to  rescue  us  in  case  we  fail." 

"Yes,"  replied  Bearwarden,  "he  is  the  right 
sort.  When  he  gave  that  promise  I  knew  his  men 
would  be  there." 

They  soon  perceived  that  they  had  reached  the 
void  of  space,  for,  though  the  sun  blazed  with  a 
splendour  they  had  never  before  seen,  the  firmament 
was  intensely  black,  and  the  stars  shone  as  at  mid- 
night. Here  they  began  to  change  their  course  to  a 
curve  beginning  with  a  spiral,  by  charging  the  Cal- 
listo  apergetically,  and  directing  the  current  towards 
the  moon,  to  act  as  an  aid  to  the  lunar  attraction, 
while  still  allowing  the  earth  to  repel,  and  their  mo- 
tion gradually  became  the  resultant  of  the  two  forces, 
the  change  from  a  straight  line  being  so  gradual, 
however,  that  for  some  minutes  they  scarcely  per- 
ceived it.  The  coronal  streamers  about  the  sun,  such 
as  are  visible  on  earth  during  a  total  eclipse,  shone 
with  a  halo  against  the  ultra-Cimmerian  background, 
bursting  forth  to  a  height  of  twenty  or  thirty  thou- 


118  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

sand  miles  above  the  surface  in  vast  cyclonic  storms, 
producing  so  rapid  a  motion  that  a  column  of  incan- 
descent gas  may  move  ten  thousand  miles  in  less  than 
ten  minutes.  Whether  these  great  streaks  were  in 
part  electrical  phenomena  similar  to  the  aurora  bore- 
alis,  or  entirely  of  intensely  heated  material  thrown 
up  by  explosions  within  the  sun's  mass,  they  could 
not  tell  even  from  their  point  of  vantage. 

"  I  believe,"  said  Cortlandt,  pointing  to  the 
streamers,  "  that  they  are  masses  of  gas  thrown  be- 
yond the  sun's  atmosphere,  which  expand  enor- 
mously when  the  pressure  to  which  they  are  sub- 
jected in  the  sun  is  removed — for  only  in  space  freed 
from  resistance  could  they  move  at  such  velocities, 
and  that  their  brilliancy  is  increased  by  great  elec- 
trical disturbance.  If  they  were  entirely  the  play  of 
electrical  forces,  their  change  of  place  would  be  prac- 
tically instantaneous,  which,  however  rapid  their 
movement,  is  not  the  case." 


BOOK    II 


(119) 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    LAST    OF    THE    EARTH. 

Finding  that  they  were  rapidly  swinging  towards 
their  proper  course,  and  that  the  earth  in  its  journey 
about  the  sun  would  move  out  of  their  way,  they 
divided  their  power  between  repelling  the  body  they 
had  left  and  increasing  the  attraction  of  the  moon, 
and  then  set  about  getting  their  house  in  order. 

Bearwarden,  having  the  largest  appetite,  was 
elected  cook,  the  others  sagely  divining  that  labour  so 
largely  for  himself  would  be  no  trial.  Their  small 
but  business-like-looking  electric  range  was  therefore 
soon  in  full  blast,  with  Bearwarden  in  command. 
It  had  enough  current  to  provide  heat  for  cooking 
for  four  hundred  hours,  which  was  an  ample  margin, 
and  it  had  this  advantage,  that,  no  matter  how  much 
it  was  used,  it  could  not  exhaust  the  air  as  any  other 
form  of  heat  would 


122  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

There  were  also  a  number  of  sixteen-candle-power 
incandescent  lamps,  so  that  when  passing  through 
the  shadow  of  a  planet,  or  at  night  after  their  arrival 
on  Jupiter,  their  car  would  be  brightly  illuminated. 
They  had  also  a  good  search-light  for  examining  the 
dark  side  of  a  satellite,  or  exploring  the  spaces  in 
Saturn's  rings.  Having  lunched  sumptuously  on 
canned  chicken  soup,  beef  d  la  jardiniere,  and 
pheasant  that  had  been  sent  them  by  some  of  their 
admirers  that  morning,  they  put  the  bones  and  the 
glass  can  that  had  contained  the  soup  into  the  double- 
doored  partition  or  vestibule,  placing  a  large  sheet  of 
cardboard  to  act  as  a  wad  between  the  scraps  and  the 
outside  door.  By  pressing  a  button  they  unfastened 
the  outside  door,  and  the  articles  to  be  disposed  of 
were  shot  off  by  the  expansion  of  the  air  between  the 
cardboard  disk  and  the  inside  door ;  after  which  tlie 
outside  door  was  drawn  back  to  its  place  by  a  cur- 
rent sent  through  a  magnet,  but  little  power  being 
required  to  reclose  it  with  no  resisting  atmospheric 
pressure.  As  the  electricity  ran  along  a  wire  passing 
through  a  hermetically  sealed  opening  in  the  floor, 
there  was  no  way  by  which  more  air  than  that  in  the 
vestibule  could  escape ;  and  as  the  somewhat  flat  space 


THE  LAST  OF  THE  EARTH.  123 

between  the  doors  contained  less  than  one  cubic  foot, 
tlie  air-pressure  inside  the  CaUisto  could  not  be  ma- 
terially lessened  by  a  few  openings. 

"  By  filling  the  vestibule  as  full  as  possible,"  said 
Bearwarden,  "  and  so  displacing  most  of  its  air,  we 
shall  be  able  to  open  the  outside  door  oftener  without 
danger  of  rarefaction." 

The  things  they  had  discharged  flew  off  with 
considerable  speed  and  were  soon  out  of  sight ;  but 
it  was  not  necessary  for  them  to  move  fast,  provided 
they  moved  at  all,  for,  the  resistance  being  nil,  they 
would  be  sure  to  go  beyond  the  range  of  vision,  pro- 
vided enough  time  was  allowed,  even  if  the  CalKs- 
to's  speed  was  not  being  increased  by  apergy,  in 
which  case  articles  outside  and  not  affected  would  be 
quickly  left  behind. 

The  earth,  which  at  first  had  filled  nearly  half 
their  sky,  was  rapidly  growing  smaller.  Being  al- 
most between  themselves  and  the  sun,  it  looked  like 
a  crescent  moon  ;  and  when  it  was  only  about  twenty 
times  the  size  of  the  moon  they  calculated  they 
must  have  come  nearly  two  hundred  thousand  miles. 
The  moon  was  now  on  what  a  sailor  would  call  the 
starboard  bow— i.e.,  to  the  right  and  ahead.     Being 


124:  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

a  little  more  than  three  quarters  full,  and  only  about 
fifty  thousand  miles  off,  it  presented  a  splendid  sight, 
brilliant  as  j^olislied  silver,  and  about  twenty-five 
times  as  large  as  they  had  ever  before  seen  it  with 
the  unaided  eye. 

It  was  just  ten  hours  since  they  had  started,  and 
at  that  moment  9  a.  m.  in  Xew  York ;  but,  though 
it  was  night  there,  the  Callisto  was  bathed  in  a  flood 
of  sunlight  such  as  never  shines  on  earth.  The  only 
night  they  would  have  was  on  the  side  of  the  Cal- 
listo turned  away  from  the  sun,  unless  they  passed 
through  some  shadow,  which  they  intended  to  avoid 
on  account  of  the  danger  of  colliding  with  a  meteor 
in  the  dark.  The  moon  and  the  Callisto  were  mov- 
ing on  converging  lines,  the  curve  on  which  they 
had  entered  having  swung  them  to  the  side  nearest 
the  earth ;  but  they  saw  that  their  own  tremendous 
and  increasing  speed  would  carry  them  in  front  of 
the  moon  in  its  nearly  circular  orbit.  Wishing  to 
change  the  direction  of  their  flight  by  the  moon's 
attraction,  they  shut  off  the  power  driving  them 
from  the  earth,  whereupon  the  Callisto  turned  its 
heavy  base  towards  the  moon.  They  were  already 
moving   at   such   speed  that  their   momentum  alone 


THE   LAST  OF  THE  EARTH.        -  125 

would  carry  them  hundreds  of  thousands  of  miles 
into  space,  and  were  then  almost  abreast  of  the 
earth's  satellite,  which  was  but  a  few  thousand  miles 
away.  The  spectacle  was  magnificent.  As  they 
looked  at  it  through  their  field  glasses  or  with  the 
unaided  eye,  the  great  cracks  and  craters  showed 
with  the  utmost  clearness,  sweeping  past  them  almost 
as  the  landscape  flies  past  a  railway  train.  There 
was  something  awe-inspiring  in  the  vast  antiquity  of 
that  furrowed  lunar  surface,  by  far  the  oldest  thing 
that  mortal  eye  can  see,  since,  while  observing  the 
ceaseless  political  or  geological  changes  on  earth,  the 
face  of  this  dead  satellite,  on  account  of  the  absence 
of  air  and  water  and  consequent  erosion,  has  re- 
mained unchanged  for  bygone  ages,  as  it  doubtless 
will  for  many  more. 

They  closely  watched  the  Callisto's  course.  At 
first  it  did  not  seem  to  deflect  from  a  straight  line, 
and  they  stood  ready  to  turn  on  the  apergetic  force 
again,  when  the  car  very  slowly  began  to  show  the 
eftect  of  the  moon's  near  pull ;  but  not  till  they  had 
so  far  passed  it  that  the  dark  side  was  towards  them 
were  they  heading  straight  for  Jupiter.  Then  they 
again  turned  on  full  power  and  got  a  send-off  shove 


126  A  JOURNEY   IX  OTDER  WORLDS. 

on  the  moon  and  earth  combined,  which  increased 
their  speed  so  rapidly  that  they  felt  they  could  soon 
shut  off  the  current  altogether  and  save  their  supply. 

"  We  must  be  ready  to  watch  the  signals  from 
the  arctic  circle,"  said  Bearwarden.  "  At  midnight, 
if  the  calculations  are  finished,  the  result  will  be 
flashed  by  the  search-light."  It  was  then  ten  min- 
utes to  twelve,  and  the  earth  was  already  over  four 
hundred  thousand  miles  away.  Focusing  their  glasses 
upon  the  region  near  the  north  pole,  which,  being 
turned  from  the  sun,  was  towards  them  and  in  dark- 
ness, they  waited. 

"  In  this  blaze  of  sunlight,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  I 
am  afraid  we  can  see  nothing." 

Fortunately,  at  this  moment  the  Callisto  entered 
the  moon's  tapering  shadow. 

''  This,"  said  Ayrault,  "  is  good  luck.  We  could 
of  course  have  gone  into  the  shadow ;  but  to  change 
our  course  would  have  delayed  us,  and  we  might 
have  lost  part  of  the  chance  of  increasing  our  speed." 

"  There  will  be  no  danger  from  meteors  or  sub- 
satellites  here,"  said  J^earwarden,  "  for  anything  re- 
volving about  the  moon  at  this  distance  would  be 
caught  by  the  earth." 


The  signals  fnjin  the  Arctic  Circle. 


THE  LAST  OF   THE  EARTH.  127 

The  sun  had  apparently  set  behind  tlie  moon, 
and  they  were  eclipsed.  The  stars  shone  with  the 
utmost  splendour  against  the  dead-black  sky,  and  the 
earth  appeared  as  a  large  crescent,  still  considerably 
larger  than  the  satellite  to  which  they  were  accus- 
tomed. Exactly  at  midnight  a  faint  phosphorescent 
light,  like  that  of  a  glow-worm,  appeared  in  the  re- 
gion of  Greenland  on  the  planet  they  had  left.  It 
gradually  increased  its  strength  till  it  shone  like  a 
long  white  beam  projected  from  a  lighthouse,  and  in 
this  they  beheld  the  work  of  the  greatest  search-light 
ever  made  by  man,  receiving  for  a  few  moments  all 
the  electricity  generated  by  the  available  dynamos  at 
Niagara  and  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  the  steam  engines, 
and  other  sources  of  power  in  the  northern  hemi- 
sphere. The  beam  lasted  with  growing  intensity  for 
one  minute ;  it  then  spelled  out  with  clean-cut  inter- 
vals, according  to  the  Cable  Code  :  "  23°  no'  6\  The 
southern  hemisphere  pumps  are  now  raising  and 
storing  water  at  full  blast.  We  have  already  begun  to 
lower  the  Arctic  Ocean." 

"  Yictory  !  "  shouted  Bearwarden,  in  an  ecstasy 
of  delight.  "Nearly  half  a  degree  in  six  months, 
with  but  one  pole  working.     If  we  can  add  at  this 


128  A  JOURNEY   IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 

rate  each  time  to  the  speed  of  straightening  already 
acquired,  we  can  reverse  our  engines  in  five  years, 
and  in  five  more  the  earth  will  be  at  rest  and 
right." 

"  Look  !  "  said  Ayrault,  "  they  are  sending  some- 
thing else."  The  flashes  came  in  rapid  succession, 
reaching  far  into  space.  With  their  glasses  fixed 
upon  them,  they  made  out  these  sentences :  "  Our 
telescopes,  in  w^iatever  part  of  the  earth  was  turned 
towards  you,  have  followed  you  since  you  started,  and 
did  not  lose  sight  of  you  till  you  entered  the  moon's 
shadow.  On  your  present  course  you  will  be  in 
darkness  till  12.16,  when  we  shall  see  you  again." 

On  receiving  this  last  earthly  message,  the  trav- 
ellers sprang  to  their  search-light,  and,  using  its  full 
power,  telegraphed  back  the  following :  "  Many 
thanks  to  you  for  good  news  about  earth,  and  to 
Secretary  Deepwaters  for  lending  us  the  navy.  Re- 
sult of  work  most  glorious.  Hemember  us  to  every- 
body.    Shadow's  edge  approaching." 

This  was  read  by  the  men  in  the  great  observa- 
tories, who  evidently  telephoned  to  the  arctic  Signal 
Light  immediately,  for  it  flashed  back :  "  Got  your 
message   perfectly.     Wish   you   greatest   luck.     The 


THE  LAST   OF  THE  EARTH.  129 

T.  A.  S.  Co.  has  decked  the  Callisto's  pedestal  with 
flowers,  and  has  ordered  a  tablet  set  up  on  the  site 
to  commemorate  your  celestial  journey." 

At  that  moment  the  shadow  swept  by,  and  they 
were  in  the  full  blaze  of  cloudless  day.  The  change 
was  so  great  that  for  a  moment  they  were  obliged  to 
close  their  eyes.  The  pohshed  sides  of  the  Callisto 
shone  so  brightly  that  they  knew  they  were  easily 
seen.  The  power  temporarily  diverted  in  sending 
them  the  message  then  returned  to  the  work  of  drain- 
ing the  Arctic  Ocean,  which,  as  the  north  pole  was 
now  returning  to  the  sun,  was  the  thing  to  do,  and 
the  travellers  resumed  their  study  of  the  heavenly 
bodies. 


CHAPTER  11. 


SPACE    AXD    MARS. 


IS'ever  before  had  the  travellers  observed  the 
stars  and  planets  under  such  favourable  conditions. 
No  air  or  clouds  intervened,  and  as  the  Callisto  did 
not  revolve  on  its  axis  there  was  no  necessity  for 
changing  the  direction  of  the  glasses.  After  an  hour 
of  this  interesting  work,  however,  as  it  was  already 
late  at  the  longitude  they  had  left  on  earth,  and  as 
they  knew  tliey  had  many  days  in  space  before  them, 
they  prepared  to  go  to  l^ed.  When  ready,  they  had 
only  to  pull  down  tlie  shades ;  for,  as  apergy  was  not 
applied  to  them,  but  only  to  the  Callisto,  they  still 
looked  upon  the  floor  as  down,  and  closed  the  heavy 
curtains  to  have  night  or  darkness.  They  found  that 
the  side  of  the  Callisto  turned  constantly  towards  the 
sun  was  becoming  very  warm,  the  doul^le-toughened 
glass   windows   making   it    like   a   greenhouse ;    but 

(130) 


SPACE   AND  MARS.  131 

tliej  consoled  themselves  with  the  thought  that  the 
sun's  power  on  them  was  hourly  becoming  less,  and 
they  felt  sure  the  double  walls  and  thick  upholstery 
would  protect  them  almost  anywhere  within  the 
solar  system  from  the  intense  cold  of  space. 

"We  could  easily  have  arranged,"  said  Ayrault, 
"  for  night  and  day  on  alternate  sides  of  the  Callisto 
by  having  strips  of  metal  arranged  spirally  on  the 
outside  as  on  the  end  of  an  arrow.  These  would 
have  started  us  turning  as  slowly  as  we  like,  since 
we  passed  through  the  atmosphere  at  a  comparatively 
low  rate  of  speed." 

"  I  am  afraid,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  the  motion,  how- 
ever slow,  would  have  made  us  dizzy.  It  would  be 
confusing  to  see  the  heavens  turning  about  us,  and 
it  would  interfere  with  using  the  glasses." 

The  base  and  one  side  of  the  Callisto  had  constant 
sunshine,  while  the  other  side  and  the  dome  were  in 
the  blackest  night.  This  dome,  on  account  of  its 
shape,  sky  windows,  and  the  completeness  with 
which  it  could  be  isolated,  was  an  ideal  observa- 
tory, and  there  was  seldom  a  time  during  their  wak- 
ing hours  for  the  rest  of  the  journey  when  it  was 
not  occupied  by  one,  two,  or  all  the  observers. 


132  A  JOURNEY   IN   OTHER   WORLDS. 

"  There  is  something  marvellous,"  said  Cortlandt, 
"  about  the  condition  of  space.  Its  absolute'  cold  is 
appalling,  apparently  because  there  is  nothing  to  ab- 
sorb heat ;  yet  we  find  the  base  of  this  material  pro- 
jectile uncomfortably  warm,  though,  should  we  expose 
a  thermometer  in  the  shade  in  front,  we  know  it 
would  show  a  temperature  of  three  hundred  to  four 
hundred  degrees  below  zero  —  were  the  instrument 
capable  of  recording  it." 

Artificial  darkness  having  been  obtained,  the  trav- 
ellers were  soon  asleep,  Bearwarden's  dreams  being 
regaled  with  thoughts  of  his  company's  triumph ; 
Ayrault's,  naturally,  with  visions  of  Sylvia ;  while 
Cortlandt  frequently  started  up,  thinking  he  had 
already  made  some  great  astronomical  discovery. 

About  9  A.  M.,  according  to  seventy-fifth  meridian 
time,  the  explorers  awoke  feeling  greatly  refreshed. 
The  tank  in  which  the  liquefied  oxygen  was  kept 
automatically  gave  off  its  gas  so  evenly  that  the  air 
remained  normal,  while  the  lime  contained  in  cups 
absorbed  the  carbon  dioxide  as  fast  as  they  exhaled 
it.  They  had  darkened  those  windows  through 
which  the  sun  was  actually  pouring,  for,  on  account 
of  the  emptiness  of  the  surrounding  ether  and  conse- 


SPACE  AND  MARS.  133 

quent  absence  of  diffusion  of  liglit,  nothing  but  the 
inky  blackness  of  space  and  the  bright  stars  looked 
in  at  the  rest.  On  raising  the  shades  they  got  an 
idea  of  their  speed.  A  small  crescent,  smaller  than 
the  familiar  moon,  accompanied  by  one  still  tinier, 
was  all  that  could  be  seen  of  the  earth  and  its  satel- 
lite. 

"  We  must,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  be  moving  at  the 
rate  of  nearly  a  million  miles  an  hour,  from  the  way 
we  have  travelled." 

"We  must  be  doing  fully  a  million,"  replied 
Cortiandt,  "for  by  this  time  we  are  ]3retty  well  in 
motion,  having  got  a  tremendous  start  when  so  near 
the  moon,  with  it  and  the  earth  in  line." 

By  steering  straight  for  Jupiter,  instead  of  for  the 
place  it  would  occupy  ten  days  later,  they  knew  they 
would  swing  past,  for  the  giant  planet,  being  in  rapid 
motion,  would  advance ;  but  they  did  not  object  to 
this,  since  it  would  give  them  a  chance  to  examine 
their  new  world  in  case  they  wished  to  do  so  before 
alighting ;  while,  if  they  preferred  to  land  at  once, 
they  conld  easily  change  their  course  by  means  of  the 
moons,  the  fourth,  from  which  their  car  was  named, 
being  the  one  that  they  knew  would  be  of  most  use. 


13^  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 

Their  tremendous  speed  showed  tliem  thcj  should 
have  time  for  exploration  on  their  arrival,  and  that 
they  would  reach  their  destination  sooner  than  they 
had  expected.  The  apergetic  force  being  applied,  as 
we  have  seen,  only  to  the  Callisto,  just  as  power  in 
starting  is  exerted  on  a  carriage  or  railway  car  and 
only  through  it  to  the  passengers,  Ayrault  and  his 
companions  had  no  unusual  sensation  except  loss  of 
weight,  for,  when  they  were  so  far  from  the  earth,  its 
attraction  was  very  slight,  and  no  other  planet  was 
near  enough  to  take  its  place.  After  breakfast,  wish- 
ing to  reach  the  dome,  and  realizing  that  it  would 
be  unnecessary  to  climb,  each  in  turn  gave  a  slight 
spring  and  was  obliged  to  put  up  his  hands  to  avoid 
striking  the  roof.  In  the  cool  quiet  of  the  dark 
dome  it  was  difficult  to  believe  that  only  twenty  feet 
away  the  sun  was  shining  with  such  intensity  upon 
the  metal  base  as  to  make  it  too  hot  on  the  inside  to 
touch  without  gloves. 

The  first  thing  that  attracted  their  attention  was 
the  size  and  brilliance  of  Mars.  Although  this  red 
planet  was  over  forty  million  miles  from  the  earth 
when  they  started,  they  calculated  that  it  was  less 
than  thirty  million  miles  from  them  now,  or  five  mil- 


SPACE  AND  MARS.  135 

lions  nearer  than  it  had  ever  been  to  them  before. 
This  reduction  in  distance,  and  the  clearness  of  the 
void  through  which  they  saw  it,  made  it  a  splendid 
sight,  its  disk  showing  clearly.  From  hour  to  hour 
its  size  and  brightness  increased,  till  towards  evening 
it  looked  like  a  small,  full  moon,  the  sun  shining 
squarely  upon  it.  They  calculated  that  on  the  course 
they  were  moving  they  should  pass  about  nine  hun- 
dred thousand  miles  to  the  right  or  behind  it,  since 
it  was  moving  towards  their  left.  They  were  inter- 
ested to  see  what  effect  the  mass  of  Mars  would  have 
on  the  CalKsto,  and  saw  here  a  chance  of  still  further 
increasing  their  speed.  Notwithstanding  its  tremen- 
dous rate,  they  expected  to  see  the  Callisto  swerve 
from  its  straight  line  and  move  towards  Mars,  whose 
orbital  speed  of  nine  hundred  miles  a  minute  they 
thought  would  take  it  out  of  the  Callisto's  way,  so 
that  no  actual  collision  would  occur  even  if  their 
air-ship  were  left  to  her  own  devices. 

Towards  evening  they  noticed  through  their 
glasses  that  several  apparently  island  peaks  in  the 
southern  hemisphere,  which  was  turned  towards 
them,  became  white,  from  which  they  concluded 
that  a  snow-storm  was  in  progress.     The  south  polar 


136  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

region  was  also  markedly  glaciated,  tliongli  tlie  ice- 
cap was  not  as  extensive  as  either  of  those  at  the 
poles  of  the  earth. 

"  As  the  Marsian  winters  must  be  fully  as  severe 
as  ours,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  on  account  of  their  length, 
the  planet's  distance  from  the  sun,  and  the  twenty- 
seven  and  a  half  degrees  inclination  of  its  axis,  we 
can  account  for  the  smallness  of  its  ice-caps  only  by 
the  fact  that  its  oceans  cover  but  one  fourth  of  its 
surface  instead  of  three  quarters,  as  on  the  earth,  and 
there  is  consequently  a  smaller  evaporation  and  rain- 
and  snow-falL" 

They  were  too  much  interested  to  think  of  sleep- 
ing that  night,  and  so,  after  dining  comfortably, 
returned  to  their  observatory.  When  within  four 
million  miles  of  Mars  the  Callisto  began  to  swerve 
perceptibly,  its  curve,  as  when  near  the  moon,  begin- 
ning with  a  spiral.  They  swung  on  unconcernedly, 
however,  knowing  they  could  check  their  ap- 
proach at  any  time.  Soon  Mars  appeared  to  have 
a  diameter  ten  times  as  great  as  that  of  the  moon, 
and  promised  shortly  to  occupy  almost  one  side  of 
their  6k3\ 

"  We  must  be  on  the  lookout  for  the  satellites," 


SPACE  AND  MARS.  137 

said  Cortlandt ;  "  a  collision  with  either  would  be 
worse  than  a  wreck  on  a  desert  island." 

They  therefore  turned  their  glasses  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  satellites. 

"  Until  Prof.  Hall,  at  Washington,  discovered  the 
two  satellites  in  1877,"  he  continued,  "  Mars  was  sup- 
posed to  be  without  moons.  The  outer  one,  Deimos, 
is  but  six  miles  in  diameter,  and  revolves  about  its 
primary  in  thirty  hours  and  eighteen  minutes,  at  a 
distance  of  fourteen  thousand  six  hundred  miles. 
As  it  takes  but  little  longer  to  complete  a  revolution 
than  Mars  does  to  rotate  on  its  axis,  it  remains  in  the 
Martial  sky  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  hours  be- 
tween rising  and  setting,  passing  through  all  the 
phases  from  new  moon  to  full  and  back  again  four 
times ;  that  is,  it  swings  four  times  around  Mars 
before  going  below  the  horizon.  It  is  one  of  the 
smallest  bodies  discovered  wdth  a  telescope.  The 
inner  one,  Phobos,  is  considerably  larger,  having  a 
diameter  of  about  twenty  miles.  It  is  but  twenty- 
seven  hundred  miles  from  Mars's  surface,  and  com- 
pletes its  revolution  in  seven  hours  and  thirty-eight 
minutes,  which  is  shorter  than  any  other  known 
period,  Jupiter's  nearest  moon  being  the  next,  with 


138  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

eleven  hours  and  fiftj-nine  minutes.  It  thus  re- 
volves in  less  than  a  third  of  the  time  Mars  takes 
to  rotate,  and  must  consequently  rise  in  the  west  and 
set  in  the  east,  as  it  is  continually  running  ahead  of 
the  surface  of  the  planet,  though  the  sun  and  all  the 
other  stars  rise  and  set  on  Mars  in  the  same  way  as 
on  the  earth." 

When  about  fifteen  thousand  miles  from  Mars, 
they  sighted  Deimos  directly  ahead,  and  saw  that 
they  should  pass  on  its  left — i.  e.,  behind — for  it  was 
moving  across  them.  The  sun  poured  directly  upon 
it,  making  it  appear  full  and  showing  all  its  features. 
There  were  small  unevennesses  on  the  surface,  ap- 
parently seventy  or  a  hundred  feet  high,  which  were 
the  nearest  approach  to  mountains,  and  they  ran  in 
ridges  or  chains.  There  were  also  unmistakable 
signs  of  volcanic  action,  the  craters  being  large  com- 
pared with  the  size  of  the  planet,  but  shallow.  They 
saw  no  signs  of  water,  and  the  blackness  of  the 
shadows  convinced  them  there  was  no  air.  They 
secured  two  instantaneous  photographs  of  the  little 
satellite  as  the  Callisto  swept  by,  and  resumed  their 
inspection  of  Mars.  They  noticed  red  and  brownish 
patches  on  the  peaks  that  had  that  morning  turned 


SPACE  AND  MARS.  I39 

white,  frum  which  they  concluded  that  the  snow  had 
begun  to  melt  under  the  warm  spring  sun.  This 
strengthened  the  belief  thej  had  already  formed, 
that  on  account  of  its  twenty-seven  and  a  half  de- 
grees inclination  the  changes  in  temperature  on  Mars 
must  be  great  and  sudden.  So  interested  were  they 
with  this,  that  they  did  not  at  first  see  a  large  and 
bright  body  moving  rapidly  on  a  course  that  con- 
verged with  theirs. 

"We  must  be  ready  to  repel  boarders," 
said  Bearwarden,  observing  it  for  the  first  time 
and  fixing  his  glass  upon  it.  "That  must  be 
Phobos.'' 

]^ot  ten  miles  off  they  beheld  Mars's  inner  moon, 
and  though  their  own  speed  caused  them  to  overtake 
and  rush  by  it  like  a  whirlwind,  the  satellite's  rapid 
motion  in  its  orbit,  in  a  course  temporarily  almost 
parallel  with  theirs,  served  to  give  them  a  chance  the 
better  to  examine  it.  Here  the  mountain  ranges 
were  considerably  more  conspicuous  than  on  Deimos, 
and  there  were  boulders  and  loose  stones  upon  their 
slopes,  which  looked  as  if  there  might  at  some  time 
have  been  frost  and  water  on  its  surface  ;  but  it  was 

all  dry  now,  neither  was  there  any  air.      The  evi- 
10 


140  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 

dences  of  volcanic  action  were  also  plainly  visible, 
while  a  noticeable  flattening  at  the  poles  showed  that 
the  little  body  had  once  rotated  rapidly  on  its  axis, 
though  whether  it  did  so  still  they  had  not  time  to 
ascertain.  When  abreast  of  it  they  were  less  than 
two  miles  distant,  and  they  secured  several  instan- 
taneous impressions,  which  they  put  aside  to  devel- 
op later.  As  the  radius  of  Phobos's  circle  was  far 
shorter  than  that  of  the  parabolic  curve  they  were 
making,  it  began  to  draw  away,  and  w^as  rapidly  left 
behind.  Applying  the  full  apergetic  force  to  Mars 
and  the  larger  moon,  they  shot  away  like  an  arrow, 
having  had  their  speed  increased  by  the  planet's  at- 
traction while  approaching  it,  and  subsequently  by 
repulsion. 

''  Either  of  those,"  said  Bearwarden,  looking  back 
at  the  little  satellites,  ''  would  be  a  nice  yacht  for  a 
man  to  explore  space  on.  He  would  also,  of  course, 
need  a  sun  to  warm  him,  if  he  wished  to  go 
beyond  this  system,  but  that  would  not  have  to 
be  a  large  affair — in  fact,  it  might  be  smaller 
than  the  planet,  and  could  revolve  about  it  like  a 
moon." 

"  Though  a  sun  of  that  size,"  replied  Cortlandt, 


SPACE  AND   MARS.  141 

''  mifflit  retain  its  heat  for  the  time  you  wished  to 
use  it,  the  planet  part  wonld  be  nothing  like  as  com- 
fortable as  what  we  have  here,  for  it  would  be  very 
difficult  to  get  enough  air-pressure  to  breathe  on  so 
small  a  body,  since,  with  its  slight  gravitation-pull,  to 
secure  fifteen  pounds  to  the  square  inch,  or  anything 
like  it,  the  atmosphere  would  have  to  extend  thou- 
sands of  miles  into  space,  so  that  on  a  cloudy  day  you 
would  be  in  darkness.  It  would  be  better,  therefore, 
to  have  such  a  sun  as  you  describe  and  accompany  it 
in  a  yacht  or  private  car  like  this,  well  stocked  with 
oxygen  and  provisions.  When  passing  through  me- 
teoric swarms  or  masses  of  solid  matter,  collision  with 
which  is  the  most  serious  risk  we  run,  the  car  could 
follow  behind  its  sun  instead  of  revolving  around  it, 
and  be  kept  from  falling  into  it  by  partially  revers- 
ing the  attraction.  As  the  gravitation  of  so  small  a 
sun  would  be  slight,  counteracting  it  for  even  a  con- 
siderable time  would  take  but  little  from  the  bat- 
teries." 

*'  There  are  known  to  be  several  unclaimed 
masses,"  added  Ayrault,  "  with  diameters  of  a  few 
hundred  yards,  revolving  about  the  earth  inside  the 
orbit  of  the  moon.      If  in  some  wav  two  of  these 


142  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 

could  be  brought  into  sufficiently  violent  collision, 
tliej  would  become  luminous  and  answer  very  well ; 
the  increase  in  bulk  as  a  result  of  the  consolidation, 
and  the  subsequent  heat,  about  serving  to  bring  them 
to  the  required  size.  A\Tienever  this  sun  showed 
spots  and  indications  of  cooling,  it  could  be  made  to 
collide  with  the  solid  head  of  some  comet,  or  small 
asteroid,  till  its  temperature  was  again  right;  while  if, 
as  a  result  of  these  accretions,  it  became  unwieldy,  it 
could  be  caused  to  rotate  with  sufficient  rapidity  on 
its  axis  to  split,  and  we  should  have  two  suns  instead 
of  one." 

"  Bravo  !  "  said  Eearwarden.  "  There  is  no 
limit  to  what  can  be  done.  The  idea  of  our  present 
trip  would  have  seemed  more  chimerical  to  people 
a  hundred  years  ago  than  this  new  scheme  appears 
now." 

Thus  they  sat  and  talked,  or  studied  maps  and 
star-charts,  or  the  stars  themselves,  while  the  hours 
quickly  passed  and  they  shot  through  space.  They 
had  now  a  straight  stretch  of  over  three  hundred 
million  miles,  and  had  to  cross  the  orbits  of  in- 
numerable asteroids  on  the  way.  The  apparent  size 
of  the  sun  had   by  this  time  considerably  decreased. 


SPACE  AND  MARS.  143 

and  the  interior  of  the  Callisto  was  no  longer  nncom- 
f ortablj  warm.  They  divided  the  day  into  twenty- 
four  hours  from  force  of  habit,  and  drew  the  shades 
tightly  during  what  they  considered  night,  while 
Bearwarden  distino^uished  himself  as  a  cook. 


CHAPTEE  III. 


HEAVENLY    BODIES. 


The  following  day,  while  in  their  observatory, 
they  saw  something  not  many  miles  ahead.  They 
watched  it  for  hours,  and  in  fact  all  day,  but  not- 
withstanding their  tremendous  speed  they  came  but 
little  nearer. 

"  They  say  a  stern  chase  is  a  long  one,"  said 
Bearwarden ;  "  but  that  beats  anything  I  have  ever 
seen." 

After  a  while,  howeyer,  they  found  they  v^ere 
nearer,  the  time  taken  having  been  in  part  due  to 
the  deceptive  distance,  which  was  greater  than  tliey 
supposed. 

''  A  comet ! "  exclaimed  Cortlandt  excitedly.  "  AVe 
shall  really  Ije  able  to  examine  it  near." 

"  It's  going  in  our  direction,"  said  Ayrault,  "  and 
at  almost  exactly  our  speed." 

(144) 


HEAVENLY  BODIES.  145 

While  the  sun  shone  full  upon  it  they  brought 
their  camera  into  play,  and  again  succeeded  in  pho- 
tographing a  heavenly  body  at  close  range.  The 
nucleus  or  head  was  of  course  turned  towards  the 
sun ;  while  the  tail,  which  they  could  see  faintly, 
preceded  it,  as  the  comet  was  receding  towards  the 
cold  and  dark  depths  of  space.  The  head  was  only  a 
few  miles  in  diameter,  for  it  was  a  small  comet,  and 
was  composed  of  grains  and  masses  of  stone  and 
meteoric  iron.  Many  of  the  grains  were  no  larger 
than  peas  or  mustard-seeds ;  no  mass  w^as  more  than 
four  feet  in  diameter,  and  all  of  them  had  very  irregu- 
lar shapes.  The  space  between  the  particles  w^as 
never  less  than  one  hundred  times  their  masses. 

^'We  can  move  about  within  it,"  said  Ayrault, 
as  the  Callisto  entered  the  aggregation  of  particles, 
and  moved  slowly  forward  among  them. 

The  windows  in  the  dome,  being  made  of  tough- 
ened glass,  set  somewhat  slantingly  so  as  to  deflect 
anything  touching  them,  and  having,  moreover,  the 
pressure  of  the  inside  air  to  sustain  them,  were  fairly 
safe,  while  the  windows  in  the  sides  and  base  were 
but  little  exposed.  Whenever  a  large  mass  seemed 
dangerously  near  the  glass,  they  applied  an  apergetic 


146  .  A  JOURNEY   IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

shock  to  it  and  sent  it  kiting  among  its  fellows.  At 
these  times  the  Callisto  recoiled  slightly  also,  the  re- 
sulting motion  in  either  being  in  inverse  ratio  to  its 
weight.  There  was  constant  and  incessant  movement 
among  the  individual  fragments,  but  it  was  not  rotary. 
Nothing  seemed  to  be  revolving  about  anything  else ; 
all  were  moving,  apparently  swinging  back  and  forth, 
but  no  collisions  took  place.  When  the  separate 
particles  got  more  than  a  certain  distance  apart  they 
reapproached  one  another,  but  when  seemingly  with- 
in about  one  hundred  diameters  of  each  other  they 
swung  off  in  some  other  direction.  The  motion  was 
like  that  of  innumerable  harp-strings,  which  may 
approach  but  never  strike  one  another.  After  a  time 
the  Callisto  seemed  to  become  endowed  with  the  same 
property  that  the  fragments  possessed  ;  for  it  and 
they  repelled  one  another,  on  a  near  approach,  after 
which  nothing  came  very  near. 

Much  of  the  material  was  like  slag  from  a  fur- 
nace, having  evidently  been  partly  fused.  Whether 
this  heat  was  the  result  of  collision  or  of  its  near 
approach  to  the  sun  at  perihelion,  they  could  not  tell, 
though  the  latter  explanation  seemed  most  simple 
and    ]U'obable.      AVlien    at    about    the    centre  of  the 


HEAVENLY  BODIES.  147 

nucleus  tliey  were  in  semi-darkness — not  twilight, 
for  any  ray  that  succeeded  in  penetrating  was  daz- 
zlingly  brilliant,  and  the  shadows,  their  own  in- 
cluded, were  inky  black.  As  they  approached  the 
farther  side  and  the  sunlight  decreased,  they  found 
that  a  diffused  luminosity  pervaded  everything.  It 
was  sufficiently  bright  to  enable  them  to  see  the 
dark  side  of  the  meteoric  masses,  and,  on  emerging 
from  the  nucleus  in  total  darkness,  they  found  the 
shadow  stretching  thousands  of  miles  before  them 
into  space. 

"I  now  understand,"  said  Bearwarden,  "why 
stars  of  the  sixth  and  seventh  magnitude  can  be  seen 
through  thousands  of  miles  of  a  comet's  tail.  It  is 
simply  because  there  is  nothing  in  it.  The  reason 
any  stars  are  obscured  is  because  the  light  in  the 
tail,  however  faint,  is  brighter  than  they,  and  that 
light  is  all  that  the  caudal  appendage  consists  of, 
though  what  produces  it  I  confess  I  am  unable  to 
explain.  I  also  see  why  the  tail  always  stretches 
away  from  the  sun,  because  near  by  it  is  overwhelmed 
by  the  more  powerful  light ;  in  fact,  I  suspect  it  is 
principally  in  the  comet's  shadow  that  the  tail  is 
visible.     It  is  strange  that  no  one  ever  thought  of 


148  A  JOURNEY   IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

tliat  before,  or  that  any  one  feared  the  earth's  passing 
throno:h  the  tail  of  a  comet.  It  is  obvious  to  me  now 
that  if  there  were  any  material  substance,  any  gas, 
however  rarefied,  in  this  hairlike  -  accompaniment, 
it  would  immediately  fall  to  the  comparatively  heavy 
head,  and  surround  that  as  a  centre." 

"  How,  then,"  asked  Cortlandt,  "  do  you  account 
for  the  spaces  between  those  stones  ?  However  slight 
gravitation  might  be  between  some  of  the  grains,  if  it 
existed  at  all,  or  was  unopposed  by  some  other  force, 
with  sufficient  time — and  they  have  eternity — every 
comet  would  come  together  like  a  planet  into  one 
solid  mass.  Perhaps  some  similar  force  maintains 
gases  in  the  distended  tail,  though  I  know  of  no  such, 
or  even  any  analogous  manifestation  on  earth.  If 
the  law  on  which  we  have  been  brought  up,  that 
'  every  atom  in  the  universe  attracts  every  other 
atom,'  were  without  exceptions  or  modifications,  that 
comet  could  not  continue  to  exist  in  its  present  form. 
Until  we  get  some  additional  illustration,  however, 
we  shall  be  short  of  data  with  which  to  formulate 
any  iconoclastic  hypothesis.     The  source  of  the  light, 

*  Comet  means  lilunillv  a  hair. 


HEAVENLY  BODIES.  149 

I  must  admit,  also  puzzles  me  greatly.  There  is  cer- 
tainly no  lieat  to  wliicli  we  can  attribute  it." 

Having  gone^  beyond  the  fragments,  they  applied 
a  strong  repulsion  charge  to  the  comet,  creating 
thereby  a  perfect  whirlpool  among  its  particles,  and 
quickly  left  it.  Half  an  hour  later  they  again  shut 
off  the  current,  as  the  Callisto's  speed  was  sufficient. 

For  some  time  they-  had  been  in  the  belt  of  aster- 
oids, but  as  yet  they  had  seen  none  near.  The  morn- 
ing following  their  experience  with  the  comet,  how- 
ever, they  went  to  their  observatory  after  breakfast 
as  usual,  and^  on  pointing  their  glasses  forward,  es- 
j^ied  a  comparatively  large  body  before  them,  a  little 
to  their  right. 

"  That  must  be  Pallas,"  said  Cortlandt,  scrutiniz- 
ing it  closely.  "  It  was  discovered  by  Olbers,  in  1802, 
and  was  the  second  asteroid  found,  Ceres  having  been 
the  first,  in  1801.  It  has  a  diameter  of  about  three 
hundred  miles,  being  one  of  the  largest  of  these  sm.all 
planets.  The  most  wonderful  thing  about  it  is  the 
inclination  of  its  orbit — thirty-five  degrees — to  the 
plane  of  the  ecliptic ;  which  means  that  at  each  revo- 
lution in  its  orbit,  it  swings  that  much  above  and  be- 
low the  imaginary  plane  cutting  the  sun  at  its  equa- 


150  A  JOURNEY   IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 

tor,  from  which  the  earth  and  other  larger  planets 
vary  but  little.  This  no  doubt  is  due  to  the  near  ap- 
proach and  disturbing  attraction  of  some  large  comet, 
or  else  it  was  flung  above  or  below  the  ordinary  plane 
in  the  catastrophe  that  we  think  befell  the  large  planet 
that  doubtless  formerly  existed  where  we  now  find  this 
swarm.  You  can  see  that  its  path  makes  a  consider- 
able angle  to  the  plane  of  the  ecliptic,  and  that  it  is 
now  about  crossing  the  line." 

It  soon  presented  the  phase  of  a  half  moon,  but 
the  waviness  of  the  straight  line,  as  in  the  case  of 
Yenus  and  Mercury,  showed  that  the  size  of  the 
mountains  must  be  tremendous  compared  with  the 
mass  of  the  body,  some  of  them  being  obviously 
fifteen  miles  high.  The  intense  blackness  of  the 
shadows,  as  on  the  moon,  convinced  them  there  was 
no  trace  of  atmosphere. 

"  There  being  no  air,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  it  is  safe 
to  assume  there  is  no  water,  which  helps  to  account 
for  the  great  inequalities  on  the  body's  surface,  since 
the  mountains  will  seem  higher  when  surrounded  by 
dry  ocean-bottom  than  they  would  if  water  came 
half-way  up  their  sides.  Undoubtedly,  however,  the 
main  cause  of  their  height  is  the  slight  effect  of  gravi- 


HEAVENLY  BODIES.  151 

tation  on  an  asteroid,  and  the  fact  that  the  shrinkino" 
of  the  interior,  and  consequent  folding  of  the  crust  in 
ridges,  may  have  continued  for  a  time  after  there  was 
no  longer  water  on  the  surface  to  cat  them  down. 

''  The  temperature  and  condition  of  a  body," 
continued  Cortlandt,  "  seem  to  depend  entirely  on  its 
size.  In  the  sun  we  have  an  incandescent,  gaseous 
star,  though  its  spots  and  the  colour  of  its  rays  show 
that  it  is  becoming  aged,  or,  to  be  more  accurate,  ad- 
vanced in  its  evolutionary  development.  Then  comes 
a  great  jump,  for  Jupiter  has  but  about  one  fourteen- 
hundredth  of  the  mass  of  the  sun,  and  we  expect  to 
find  on  it  a  firm  crust,  and  that  the  planet  itself  is  at 
about  the  fourth  or  fifth  period  of  development,  de- 
scribed by  Moses  as  days.  Saturn  is  doubtless  some- 
what more  advanced.  The  earth  we  know  has  been 
habitable  many  hundreds  of  thousands  or  millions  of 
years,  though  three  fourths  of  its  surface  is  still  cov- 
ered by  water.  In  Mars  we  see  a  further  step,  three 
fourths  of  its  surface  being  land.  In  Mercury,  could 
we  study  it  better,  or  in  the  larger  satellites  of  Jupi- 
ter or  Saturn,  we  might  find  a  stepping-stone  from 
Mars  to  the  moon,  perhaps  with  no  water,  but  still 
having  air,  and  being  habitable  in  all  other  respects. 


152  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

In  our  own  satellite  we  see  a  world  that  Las  died, 
though  its  death  from  an  astronouiical  point  of  view 
is  comparatively  recent,  while  this  little  Pallas  has 
been  dead  longer,  being  probably  chilled  through  and 
through.  From  this  I  conclude  that  all  bodies  in 
the  solar  system  had  one  genesis,  and  were  part  of 
the  same  nebulous  mass.  But  this  does  not  include 
the  other  systems  and  nebulae ;  for,  compared  with 
them,  our  sun,  as  -we  have  seen,  is  itself  advanced 
and  small  beside  such  stars  as  Sirius  having  diame- 
ters of  twelve  million  miles." 

As  they  left  Pallas  between  themselves  and  the 
sun,  it  became  a  crescent  and  finally  disappeared. 

Two  days  later  they  sighted  another  asteroid 
exactly  ahead.  They  examined  it  closely,  and  con- 
cluded it  must  be  Hilda,  put  dow^n  in  the  astrono- 
mies as  'No.  153,  and  having  almost  the  greatest 
mean  distance  of  any  of  these  small  bodies  from 
the  sun. 

When  they  were  so  near  that  the  disk  was  plainly 
visible  to  the  unaided  eye,  Hilda  passed  between 
them  and  Jupiter,  eclipsing  it.  To  their  surprise, 
the  light  was  not  instantly  shut  off,  as  when  the  moon 
occults  a  star,  but  there  was  evident  refraction. 


HEAVENLY  BODIES.  153 

"  By  George  ! "  said  Bearwarden,  "  here  is  an 
asteroid  that  has  an  atmospliere." 

There  was  no  mistaking  it.  Thej  soon  discov- 
ered a  small  ice-cap  at  one  pole,  and  then  made  out 
oceans  and  continents,  with  mountains,  forests,  rivers, 
and  green  fields.  The  sight  lasted  but  a  few  mo- 
ments before  they  swept  by,  but  they  secured  several 
photographs,  and  carried  a  vivid  impression  in  their 
minds.  Hilda  appeared  to  be  about  two  hundred 
miles  in  diameter. 

"  How  do  you  account  for  that  living  world," 
Bearwarden  asked  Cortlandt,  "  on  your  theory  of 
size  and  longevity  ?  " 

"  There  are  two  explanations,"  replied  Cortlandt, 
"  if  the  theory,  as  I  still  believe,  is  correct.  Hilda 
has  either  been  brought  to  this  system  from  some 
other  less  matured,  in  the  train  of  a  comet,  and  been 
captured  by  the  immense  power  of  Jupiter,  which 
might  account  for  the  eccentricity  of  its  orbit,  or 
some  accident  has  happened  to  rejuvenate  it  here. 
A  collision  with  another  minor  planet  moving  in  an 
orbit  that  crossed  its  own,  or  with  the  head  of  a 
large  comet,  would  have  reconverted  it  into  a  star, 
perhaps  after  it  had  long  been  cold.     A  comet  may 


154:  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER   WORLDS. 

tirst  have  so  chaDged  the  course  of  one  of  two  small 
bodies  as  to  make  tliem  collide.  This  seems  to  me 
the  most  plausible  theory.  Over  a  hundred  years 
ago  the  English  astronomer,  Chambers,  wrote  of 
having  found  traces  of  atmosphere  in  some  of  these 
minor  planets,  but  it  was  generally  thought  he  was 
mistaken.  One  reason  we  know  so  little  about  this 
great  swarm  of  minor  planets  is,  that  till  recently 
none  of  them  showed  a  disk  to  the  telescope.  In- 
asmuch as  only  their  light  was  visible,  they  were 
indistinguishable  from  stars,  except  by  their  slow 
motion.  A  hundred  years  ago  only  three  hundred 
and  fifty  had  been  discovered ;  our  photographic 
star-charts  have  since  then  shown  the  number  re- 
corded to  exceed  one  thousand." 


'{■     'f' 


CHAPTEE  TV. 


PREPARING   TO    ALIGHT. 


That  afternoon  Ayrault  brought  out  some  statis- 
tical tables  he  had  compiled  from  a  great  number  of 
books,  and  also  a  diagram  of  the  comparative  sizes  of 
the  planets.  ^'  I  have  been  not  a  little  puzzled  at  the 
discrepancies  between  even  the  best  authors,"  he  said, 
"  scarcely  any  two  being  exactly  alike,  while  every 
decade  has  seen  accepted  theories  radically  changed." 
Saying  which,  he  spread  out  the  result  of  his  labours 
(shown'  on  the  following  pages),  which  the  three 
friends  then  studied. 

^'  You  see,"  Ayrault  explained,  "  on  Jupiter  we 
shall  need  our  apergetic  outfits  to  enable  us  to  make 
long  marches,  while  on  Saturn  they  will  not  be  neces- 
sary, the  increase  in  our  weight  as  a  result  of  that 
planet's  size  being  considerably  less  than  the  usual 
load  carried  by  the  Eoman  soldier." 

11  (155) 


15G 


A  JOURNEY   IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 


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A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 


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PREPARING  TO  ALIGHT.  159 

"  I  do  not  imagine,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  we  should 
long  be  troubled  by  gravitation  without  our  apergetic 
outfits  even  on  Jupiter,  for,  though  our  weight  will 
be  more  than  doubled,  we  can  take  off  one  quarter  of 
the  whole  by  remaining  near  the  equator,  their  rapid 
rotation  having  apparently  been  given  providentially 
to  all  the  large  planets,  l^ature  will  adapt  herself  to 
this  change,  as  to  all  others,  very  readily.  Although 
the  reclamation  of  the  vast  areas  of  the  l^Torth  Ameri- 
can Arctic  Archipelago,  Alaska,  Siberia,  and  Antarc- 
tic Wilkes  Land,  from  the  death-grip  of  the  ice  in 
which  they  have  been  held  will  relieve  the  pressure 
of  population  for  another  century,  at  the  end  of 
that  time  it  will  surely  be  felt  again  ;  it  is  therefore  a 
consolation  to  feel  that  the  mighty  planets  Jupiter 
and  Saturn,  which  we  are  coming  to  look  upon  as 
our  heritage,  will  not  crush  the  life  out  of  any 
human  beings  by  their  own  weight  that  may  alight 
upon  them." 

Before  going  to  bed  that  evening  they  decided 
to  be  up  early  the  next  day,  to  study  Jupiter,  which 
was  already  a  brilHant  object. 

The  following  morning,  on  awakening,  they  went 
at  once  to  their  observatory,  and  found  that  Jupiter's 


IGO  A   JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

disk  was  plainly  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  and  before 
night  it  seemed  as  large  as  the  full  moon. 

They  then  prepared  to  check  the  Callisto's  head- 
long speed,  which  Jupiter's  attraction  was  beginning 
to  increase.  When  about  two  million  miles  from  the 
great  planet,  which  was  considerably  on  their  left, 
they  espied  Callisto  ahead  and  slightly  on  their  right, 
as  Deepwaters  had  calculated  it  would  be.  Applying 
a  mild  repulsion  to  this  —  which  was  itself  quite  a 
world,  with  its  diameter  of  over  three  thousand  miles, 
though  evidently  as  cold  and  dead  as  the  earth's  old 
moon  —  they  retarded  their  forward  rush,  knowing 
that  the  resulting  motion  towards  Jupiter  would  be 
helped  by  the  giant's  pull.  AVishing  to  be  in  good 
condition  for  their  landing,  they  divided  the  remainder 
of  the  night  into  watches,  two  going  to  sleep  at  a  time, 
the  man  on  duty  standing  by  to  control  the  course  and 
to  get  photographic  negatives,  on  which,  when  they 
were  developed,  they  found  two  crescent-shaped  con- 
tinents, a  speckled  region,  and  a  number  of  islands. 
By  7  A.  M.,  according  to  Eastern  standard  time,  they 
were  but  fifty  thousand  miles  from  Jupiter's  sur- 
face, the  gigantic  globe  filling  nearly  one  side  of  the 
sky.     In  preparation   for  a  sally,  they  got  their  guns 


PREPARING   TO  ALIGHT.  id 

and  accoutrements  ready,  and  then  gave  a  parting 
glance  at  the  car.  Their  charge  of  electricity  for  de- 
veloping the  repulsion  seemed  scarcely  touched,  and 
they  had  still  an  abundant  supply  of  oxygen  and 
provisions.  The  barometer  registered  twenty- nine 
inches,  showing  that  they  had  not  lost  much  air  in  the 
numerous  openings  of  the  vestibule.  The  pressure 
w^as  about  what  would  be  found  at  an  altitude  of  a 
few  hundred  feet,  part  of  the  rarefaction  being  no 
doubt  due  to  the  fact  that  they  did  not  close  the  win- 
dow's until  at  a  considerable  height  above  Yan  Cort- 
landt  Park. 

They  saw  they  should  alight  in  a  longitude  on 
which  the  sun  had  just  risen,  the  rocky  tops  of  the 
great  mountains  shining  like  helmets  in  its  rays. 
Soon  they  felt  a  sharp  checking  of  their  forward 
motion,  and  saw,  from  the  changed  appearance  of  the 
stars  and  the  sun,  that  they  had  entered  the  atmos- 
phere of  their  new  home. 

JN'ot  even  did  Columbus,  standing  at  the  prow  of 
the  Santa  Maria,  with  the  :N"ew  World  before  him, 
feel  the  exultation  and  delight  experienced  by  these 
latter-day  explorers  of  the  twenty-first  century.  Their 
first  adventures  on  landing  the  reader  already  knows. 


CHxiPTER  y. 

EXPLORATION    AND    EXCITEMENT. 

When  they  awoke,  the  flowers  were  singing  with 
tlie  volume  of  a  cathedral  organ,  the  chant  rising 
from  all  around  them,  and  the  sun  was  already  above 
tlie  horizon.  Finding  a  deep  natural  spring,  in  which 
the  water  was  at  about  blood-heat,  they  prepared  for 
breakfast  by  taking  a  bath,  and  then  found  they  had 
brought  nothing  to  eat. 

''  It  was  stupid  of  us  not  to  think  of  it,"  said 
Bearwarden,  "  yet  it  will  be  too  much  out  of  our  way 
to  return  to  the  Callisto." 

"  We  have  two  rifles  and  a  gun,"  said  Ayrault, 
"and  have  also  plenty  of  water,  and  wood  for  a  fire. 
All  we  need  is  game." 

"  The  old  excuse,  that  it  has  been  already  shot  out, 
cannot  hold  here,"  said  Cortlandt. 

"  Seeing  that  we  have  neither  wings  nor  pneu- 

(16-2) 


EXPLORATION  AND  EXCITEMENT.  163 

matic  legs,  and  not  knowing  the  advantage  given  us 
bj  our  rifles,"  added  Bearwarden,  "  it  sliould  not  be 
shy  either.  So  far,"  he  continued,  "  we  have  seen 
nothing  edible,  though  just  now  we  should  not  be 
too  particular ;  but  near  a  spring  like  this  that  kind 
must  exist." 

"  The  question  is,"  said  the  professor,  "  whether 
the  game  like  warm  water.  If  we  can  follow  this 
stream  till  it  has  been  on  the  surface  for  some  time, 
or  till  it  spreads  out,  we  shall  doubtless  find  a  hunts- 
man's paradise." 

"  A  bright  idea,"  said  Bearwarden.  "  Let's  have 
our  guns  ready,  and,  as  old  Deepwaters  v/ould  say, 
keep  our  weather  eye  open." 

The  stream  flowed  off  in  a  southeasterly  direc- 
tion, so  that  by  following  it  they  went  towards  the 
volcanoes. 

"  It  is  hard  to  realize,"  said  the  professor, 
"  that  those  mountains  must  be  several  hundred  miles 
away,  for  the  reason  that  they  are  almost  entirely 
above  the  horizon.  This  apparent  flatness  and  wide 
range  of  vision  is  of  course  the  result  of  Jupiter's 
vast  size.  With  sufiiciently  keen  sight,  or  aided  by  a 
good    glass,   there    is    no    reason   w^hy   one    should 


1G4  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER   WORLDS. 

not  see  at  least  five  li  and  red  miles,  with  but  a  slight 
elevation." 

"  It  is  surprising,"  said  Ayrault,  "  that  in  what  is 
evidently  Jupiter's  Carboniferous  period  the  atmos- 
phere should  be  so  clear.  Our  idea  has  been  that  at 
that  time  on  earth  the  air  was  heavy  and  dense." 

"  So  it  was,  and  doubtless  is  here,"  replied  Cort- 
landt ;  ''  but  you  must  remember  that  both  those 
qualities  would  be  given  it  by  carbonic-acid  gas, 
which  is  entirely  invisible  and  transparent.  Xo  gas 
that  would  be  likely  to  remain  in  the  air  would  inter- 
fere with  sight ;  water  vapour  is  the  only  thing  that 
could  ;  and  though  the  crust  of  this  planet,  even  near 
the  surface,  is  still  hot,  the  sun  being  so  distant,  the 
vapour  would  not  be  raised  much.  By  avoiding  low 
places  near  hot  springs,  we  shall  doubtless  have  very 
nearly  as  clear  an  atmosphere  as  on  earth.  What 
does  surprise  me  is  the  ease  with  which  we  breathe. 
I  can  account  for  it  only  by  supposing  that,  the  Car- 
boniferous period  being  already  well  advanced,  most 
of  the  carl)onic  acid  is  already  locked  up  in  the  for- 
ests or  in  Jupiter's  coal-beds." 

"  IIow,"  asked  Bearwarden,  "  do  you  account  for 
the  'great    red    spot'  that    appeared    here  in   1878, 


EXPLORATION   AND  EXCITEMENT.  165 

lasted  several  years,  and  then  gradually  faded?  It 
was  taken  as  unmistakable  evidence  that  Jupiter's  at- 
mosphere was  filled  with  impenetrable  banks  of  cloud. 
In  fact,  you  remember  many  of  the  old  books  said  we 
had  probably  never  seen  the  surface." 

"  That  has  puzzled  me  very  much,"  replied  Cort- 
landt,  "but  I  never  believed  the  explanation  then 
given  was  correct.  The  Carboniferous  period  is 
essentially  one  of  great  forest  growth ;  so  there 
would  be  nothing  out  of  the  way  in  supposing  the 
spot,  notwithstanding  its  length  of  twenty-seven  thou- 
sand miles  and  its  breadth  of  eight  thousand  miles,  to 
have  been  forest.  It  occurred  in  what  would  cor- 
respond to  the  temperate  region  on  earth.  I^I'ow, 
though  the  axis  of  this  planet  is  practically  straight, 
the  winds  of  course  change  their  direction,  and  so  the 
temperature  does  vary  from  day  to  day.  What  is 
more  probable  than  that,  owing  perhaps  to  a  pro- 
longed norther  or  cold  spell,  a  long  strip  of  forest 
lying  near  the  frost  line  was  brought  a  few  degrees 
below  it,  so  that  the  leaves  changed  their  colour,  as 
they  do  on  earth  ?  It  would,  it  seems  to  me,  be 
enough  to  give  the  surface  a  distinct  colour ;  and  the 
fact  that  the  spot's  greatest  length  was  east  and  west, 


IGG  A  JOURNEY   IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

or  along  the  lines  of  latitude,  so  that  the  whole  of 
that  region  might  have  been  exposed  to  the  same 
conditions  of  temperature,  strengthens  this  hypothe- 
sis. The  strongest  objection  is,  that  the  spot  is  said 
to  have  moved  ;  but  the  motion — five  seconds — was 
so  slight  that  it  might  easily  have  been  an  error  in 
observation,  or  the  first  area  affected  by  the  cold  may 
have  been  enlarged  on  one  side.  It  seems  to  me 
that  the  stability  the  spot  did  have  would  make  the 
cloud  theory  impossible  on  earth,  and  much  more  so 
here,  with  the  far  more  rapid  rotation  and  more  vio- 
lent winds.  It  may  also  have  been  a  cloud  of  smoke 
from  a  volcano  in  eruption,  such  as  we  saw  on  our 
arrival,  though  it  is  doubtful  whether  in  that  case  it 
would  have  remained  nearly  stationary  while  going 
through  its  greatest  intensity  and  fading,  which 
would  look  as  though  the  turned  leaves  had  fallen 
off  and  been  gradually  replaced  by  new  ones ;  and,  in 
addition  to  this,  the  spot  since  it  was  first  noticed  has 
never  entirely  disappeared,  which  might  mean  a  vol- 
canic region  constantly  emitting  smoke,  or  that  the 
surface,  doubtless  from  some  covering  whose  colour 
can  change,  is  normally  of  a  different  shade  from  the 
surrounding  region.      In  any  case,   we  have  as  yet 


EXPLORATION  AND  EXCITEMENT.  IQ^ 

seen   nothing    that   would    indicate    a    permanently 
clouded  atmosphere." 

Though  they  had  walked  a  considerable  distance, 
the  water  was  not  much  cooled ;  and  though  the 
stream's  descent  was  so  slight  that  on  earth  its  cur- 
rent would  have  been  very  slow,  here  it  rushed  along 
like  a  mountain  torrent,  the  reason,  of  course,  being 
that  a  given  amount  of  water  on  Jupiter  would  de- 
press a  spring  balance  2'55  times  as  much  as  on 
the  earth. 

"  It  is  strange,"  said  Ayrault,  "  that,  notwithstand- 
ing its  great  speed,  the  water  remains  so  hot ;  you 
would  think  its  motion  would  cool  it." 

"  So  it  does,"  answered  the  professor.  "  It  of 
course  cools  considerably  more  in  a  given  period — as, 
for  instance,  one  minute — than  if  it  were  moving 
more  slowly,  but  on  account  of  its  speed  it  has  been 
exposed  to  the  air  but  a  very  short  time  since  leaving 
the  spring." 

Just  before  them  the  stream  now  widened  into  a 
narrow  lake,  which  they  could  see  was  straight  for 
some  distance. 

"The  fact  is,"  said  Bearwarden,  "this  water 
seems  in  such  haste  to  reach  the  ocean  that  it  turns 


108  A  JOURXF.Y   IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 

neitlier  to  right  nor  to  left,  and  does  not  even  seem 
to  wish  to  widen  out.-' 

As  tiie  huge  ferns  and  palms  grew  to  the  water's 
edge,  they  concluded  the  best  way  to  traverse  the  lake 
would  be  on  a  raft.  Accordingly,  choosing  a  large 
overhanging  palm,  Bearwarden  and  Ayrault  fired 
each  an  explosive  l)all  into  its  trunk,  about  eighteen 
inches  from  the  ground.  One  round  was  enough  to 
put  it  in  the  water,  each  explosion  removing  several 
cubic  feet  of  wood.  By  repeating  this  process  on 
other  trees  they  soon  had  enough  large  timber  for 
buoyancy,  so  that  they  had  but  to  superimpose  lighter 
cross-logs  and  bind  the  whole  together  with  pliable 
branches  and  creepers  to  form  a  substantial  raft.  The 
doctor  climbed  on,  after  which  Bearwarden  and  Ay- 
rault cast  off,  having  prepared  long  poles  for  navi- 
gating. With  a  little  care  they  kept  their  bark  from 
catching  on  projecting  roots,  and  as  the  stream  con- 
tinued to  widen  till  it  was  about  one  hundred  yards 
across,  their  work  became  easy.  Carried  along  at  a 
speed  of  two  or  three  miles  an  hour,  they  now  saw 
that  tlie  water  and  the  banks  they  passed  were  liter- 
ally alive  with  reptiles  and  all  sorts  of  amphibious 
creatures,  while  winged  lizards  sailed  from  every  over- 


EXPLORATION   AND  EXCITEMENT.  1(]9 

hanging  branch  into  the  water  as  they  approached. 
They  noticed  also  many  birds  similar  to  storks  and 
cranes,  about  the  size  of  ostriches,  standing  on  logs  in 
the  water,  whose  bills  were  provided  with  teeth. 

"  We  might  almost  think  we  were  on  earth,"  said 
AyrarJt,  "  from  the  looks  of  those  storks  standing  on 
one  leg,  with  the  other  drawn  up,  were  it  not  for 
their  size." 

"  How  do  you  suppose  they  defend  themselves," 
asked  Bearwarden,  "  from  the  snakes  with  which  the 
water  is  filled  ? " 

"I  suspect  they  can  give  a  pretty  good  account 
of  themselves,"  replied  Cortlandt,  ''  with  those  teeth. 
Besides,  with  only  one  leg  exposed,  there  is  but 
a  very  small  object  for  a  snake  to  strike  at.  For 
their  number  and  size,  I  should  say  their  struggle 
for  existence  was  comparatively  mild.  Doubtless 
non-poisonous,  or,  for  that  matter,  poisonous  snakes, 
form  a  great  part  of  their  diet." 

On  passing  the  bend  in  the  lake  they  noticed  that 
the  banks  were  slightly  higher,  while  j^alms,  pine- 
trees,  and  rubber  plants  succeeded  the  ferns.  In  the 
distance  they  now  heard  a  tremendous  crashing, 
which  grew  louder  as  the  seconds  passed.     It  finally 


170  A  JOL'RXEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

sounded  like  an  earthquake.  Involuntarily  they  held 
their  breath  and  grasped  their  weapons.  Finally,  at 
some  distance  in  the  woods  they  saw  a  dark  mass 
moving  rapidly  and  approaching  the  river  obliquely. 
Palms  and  pine-trees  went  down  before  it  like  straws, 
while  its  head  was  continuall}^  among  the  upper 
branches.  As  the  monster  neared  the  lake,  the 
water  at  the  edges  quivered,  showing  how  its  weight 
shook  the  banks  at  each  stride,  while  stumps  and 
tree-trunks  on  which  it  stepped  were  pressed  out  of 
sight  in  the  ground.  A  general  exodus  of  the  other 
inhabitants  from  his  line  of  march  began ;  the  moc- 
casins slid  into  the  water  with  a  low  splash,  while  the 
boa-constrictors  and  the  tree-snakes  moved  off  along 
the  ground  when  they  felt  it  tremble,  and  a  number 
of  nisrht  birds  retreated  into  the  denser  woods  with 
loud  cries  at  being  so  rudely  disturbed.  The  huge 
beast  did  not  stop  till  he  reached  the  bank,  where  he 
switched  his  tail,  raised  his  proboscis,  and  sniffed  the 
air  uneasily,  his  height  being  fully  thirty  feet  and 
his  length  about  fifty.  On  seeing  the  raft  and  its 
occupants,  he  looked  at  them  stupidly  and  threw 
back  his  head. 

"  He  seems  to    be  turning  up   his  nose  at  us," 


EXPLORATION   AND  EXCITEMENT.  171 

said  Bearwarden.     "All  the  same,  he  will  do  well 
for  breakfast." 

As  the  creature  moved,  his  chest  struck  a  huge 
overhanging  palm,  tearing  it  off  as  though  it  had 
been  a  reed.  Brushing  it  aside  with  his  trunk,  he 
was  about  to  continue  his  march,  when  two  rifle  re- 
ports rang  out  together,  rousing  the  echoes  and  a 
number  of  birds  that  screeched  loudly. 


12 


CHAPTER  YI. 

MASTODOX   AND    WILL-o'-THE    WISPS. 

Bearwaeden's  bullet  struck  the  mammotli  in  the 
shoulder,  while  Ayrault's  aim  was  farther  back. 
As  the  balls  exploded,  a  half-barrelful  of  flesh  and 
hide  was  shot  from  each,  leaving  two  gaping  holes. 
Instantly  he  rushed  among  the  trees,  making  his 
course  known  for  some  time  by  his  roars.  As  he 
turned,  Bearwarden  fired  again,  but  the  ball  flew 
over  him,  blowing  off  the  top  of  a  tree. 

"  Now  for  the  chase  !  "  said  Ayrault.  ''  There 
would  be  no  excuse  for  losing  him." 

Quickly  pushing  their  raft  to  shore  and  securing 
it  to  the  bank,  the  three  jumped  off.  Thanks  to 
their  rubber  boots  and  galvanic  outfits  which  auto- 
matically kept  them  charged,  they  were  as  spry  as 
they  would  have  been  on  earth.  The  ground  all 
about  them,  and  in  a  strip  twelve  feet  wide  where  the 

(1T2) 


MASTODON  AND  WILL-O'-THE  WISPS.         173 

mammotli  liad  gone,  was  torn  up,  and  the  vegetation 
trodden  down.  Following  this  trail,  they  struck  back 
into  the  woods,  where  in  places  the  gloom  cast  by  the 
thick  foliage  was  so  dense  that  there  was  a  mere 
twilight,  startling  as  they  went  numbers  of  birds  of 
grey  and  sombre  plumage,  whose  necks  and  heads, 
and  the  sounds  they  uttered,  were  so  reptilian  that 
the  three  terrestrials  believed  they  must  also  possess 
poison  fangs. 

"  The  most  highly  developed  things  we  have  seen 
here,"  said  Bearwarden,  ^'  are  the  flowers  and  fire- 
flies, most  of  the  birds  and  amphibians  being  simply 
loathsome." 

As  they  proceeded  they  found  tracks  of  blood, 
which  were  rapidly  attracting  swarms  of  the  reptile 
birds  and  snakes,  which,  however,  as  a  rule,  fled  at 
their  approach. 

"  I  wonder  what  can  have  caused  that  mammoth 
to  move  so  fast,  and  to  have  seemed  so  ill  at  ease  ? " 
said  the  doctor.  "  His  motive  certainly  was  not 
thirst,  for  he  did  not  approach  the  water  in  a  direct 
line,  neither  did  he  drink  on  reaching  it.  One  would 
think  nothing  short  of  an  earthquake  or  a  land-slide 
could  trouble  him." 


174:  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

^'  There  can  be  no  land-slide  here,''  said  Ayrault, 
"  for  the  country  is  too  flat." 

"And  after  yesterday's  eruptions,"  added  Bear- 
warden,  "  it  would  seem  as  though  the  volcanoes 
could  have  scarcely  enough  steam  left  to  make 
trouble." 

The  blood-tracks,  continuing  to  become  fresher, 
showed  them  they  were  nearing  the  game,  when  sud- 
denly the  trail  took  a  sharp  turn  to  the  right,  even 
returning  towards  the  lake.  A  little  farther  it  took 
another  sharp  turn,  then  followed  a  series  of  doub- 
lings, while  still  farther  the  ground  was  completely 
denuded  of  trees,  its  torn-up  and  trampled  condition 
and  the  enormous  amount  of  still  warm  blood  show- 
ing how  terrific  a  battle  had  just  taken  place. 

While  they  looked  about  they  saw  what  appeared 
to  be  the  trunk  of  a  tree  about  four  feet  in  diameter 
and  six  feet  long,  with  a  slight  crook.  On  coming 
closer,  they  recognized  in  it  one  of  the  forefeet  of 
the  mammoth,  cut  as  cleanly  as  though  with  a  knife 
from  the  leg  just  above  the  ankle,  and  still  warm. 
A  little  farther  they  found  the  huge  trunk  cut  to 
slivers,  and,  just  beyond,  the  body  of  the  unfortunate 
beast  with  three  of  its  feet  gone,  and  the  thick  hide 


MASTODON  AND  WILL-O'-THE  WISPS.         175 

cut  and  slashed  like  so  miicli  paper.  It  still  breathed, 
and  Ayrault,  who  had  a  tender  heart,  sent  an  explo- 
sive ball  into  its  skull,  which  ended  its  suffering. 

The  three  hunters  then  surveyed  the  scene.  The 
largest  and  most  powerful  beast  they  had  believed 
could  exist  lay  before  them  dead,  not  from  the  bite 
of  a  snake  or  any  other  poison,  but  from  mechanical 
injuries  of  which  those  they  had  inflicted  formed  but 
a  very  small  part,  and  literally  cut  to  pieces. 

"  I  am  curious  to  see  the  animal,"  said  Cortlandt, 
"capable  of  doing  this,  though  nothing  short  of 
dynamite  bombs  would  protect  us  from  him." 

"As  he  has  not  stopped  to  eat  his  victim,"  said 
Bearwarden,  "  it  is  fair  to  suppose  he  is  not  carniv- 
orous, and  so  must  have  had  some  other  motive  than 
hunger  in  making  the  attack  ;  unless  we  can  suppose 
that  our  approach  frightened  him  away,  which,  with 
such  power  as  he  must  possess,  seems  unlikely.  Let 
us  see,"  he  continued,  "  parts  of  two  legs  remain  un- 
accounted for.  Perhaps,  on  account  of  their  shape, 
he  has  been  able  the  more  easily  to  carry  or  roll 
them  off,  for  we  know  that  elephant  foot  makes  a 
capital  dish." 

"  From  the  way  you  talk,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  one 


176  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER   WORLDS. 

would  suppose  you  attributed  this  to  men.  The 
Goliath  we  picture  to  ourselves  would  be  a  child 
compared  to  the  man  that  could  cut  through  these 
legs,  though  the  necessity  of  believing  him  to  have 
merely  great  size  does  not  disprove  his  existence 
here.  I  think  it  probable  we  shall  find  this  is  the 
work  of  some  animal  with  incisors  of  such  power  as 
it  is  difficult  for  us  to  conceive  of." 

"  There  is  no  indication  here  of  teeth,"  said 
Bearwarden,  "  each  foot  being  taken  off  with  a  clean 
cut.  Besides,  we  are  coming  to  believe  that. man  ex- 
isted on  earth  during  the  greater  part,  if  not  the 
whole,  of  our  Carboniferous  period." 

"  We  must  reserve  our  decision  pending  further 
evidence,"  said  Cortlandt. 

"  I  vote  we  take  the  heart,"  said  Ayrault,  "  and 
cook  it,  since  otherwise  the  mammoth  will  be  de- 
voured before  our  eyes." 

While  Bearwarden  and  Ayrault  delved  for  this, 
Cortlandt,  with  some  difficulty,  parted  the  mam- 
moth's lips  and  examined  the  teeth.  ^'  From  the 
conical  projections  on  the  molars,"  said  he,  "  this 
should  be  classed  rather  as  a  mastodon  than  as  a 
mammoth." 


MASTODON  AND  WILL-O'-THE   WISPS.         177 

When  the  huge  heart  was  secured,  Bearwarden 
arranged  shces  on  sharpened  sticks,  while  Ayrault 
set  about  starting  a  fire.  He  had  to  use  Cortlandt's 
gun  to  clear  the  dry  wood  of  snakes,  which,  attracted 
doubtless  by  the  dead  mastodon,  came  in  such  num- 
bers that  they  covered  the  ground,  while  huge  ptero- 
dactyls, more  venomous-looking  than  the  reptiles, 
hovered  about  the  opening  above. 

Arrano^iner  a  double  line  of  electric  wires  in  a 
circle  about  the  mastodon  and  themselves,  they  sat 
down  and  did  justice  to  the  meal,  with  appetites  that 
might  have  dismayed  the  waiting  throng.  When- 
ever a  snake's  head  came  in  contact  with  one  wire, 
while  his  tail  touched  the  other,  he  gave  a  spasmodic 
leap  and  fell  back  dead.  If  he  happened  to  fall 
across  the  wires,  he  immediately  began  to  sizzle,  a 
cloud  of  smoke  arose,  and  he  was  reduced  to  ashes. 

"  Any  time  that  we  are  short  of  mastodon  or 
other  good  game,"  said  Ayrault,  "  we  need  not 
hunger  if  we  are  not  above  grilled  snake." 

All  laughed  at  this,  and  Bearwarden,  drawing  a 
whiskey-flask  from  his  pocket,  passed  it  to  his  friends. 

"  When  we  rig  our  fishing-tackle,"  he  continued, 
"  and  have  fresh  fish  for  dinner,  an  entree  of  rattle- 


178  A  JOURNEY  IN   OTHER  WORLDS. 

snake,  roast  mastodon  for  the  piece  de  resistance,  and 
begin  the  whole  with  turtle  soup  and  clams,  of  which 
there  must  be  plenty  on  the  ocean  beach,  we  shall 
want  to  stay  here  the  rest  of  our  lives." 

"  I  suspect  we  shall  have  to,"  replied  Ayrault ; 
"  for  we  shall  become  so  like  Thanksgiving  turkeys 
that  the  Callisto's  door  will  be  too  small  for  us." 

While  they  sat  and  talked,  the  flowers  and  plants 
about  them  softly  began  their  song,  and,  as  a  visual 
accompaniment,  the  fire-flies  they  had  not  before  no- 
ticed twinkled  through  the  forest. 

"  My  goodness  !  "  exclaimed  Cortlandt,  "  how 
time  goes  here  !  We  started  to  get  breakfast,  and 
now  it's  growing  dark." 

Hastily  cutting  some  thick  but  tender  slices  from 
the  mastodon,  and  impaling  them  with  the  remains 
of  the  heart  on  a  sharpened  stake,  they  took  up  the 
wires,  and  the  battery  that  had  been  supplying  the 
current,  and  retraced  their  steps  by  the  way  they  had 
come.  Their  rubber-lined  cowhide  boots  protected 
them  from  all  but  the  largest  snakes,  and  as  these 
were  for  the  most  part  already  enjoying  their  gorge, 
they  trampled  with  impunity  on  those  that  remained 
in  their  path.     When  they  had  covered  about  half 


MASTODON  AND  WILL-O'-THE   WISPS.         179 

the  distance  to  the  raft,  a  huge  boa-constrictor,  which 
they  had  mistaken  for  a  branch,  fell  upon  Cortlandt, 
pinioning  his  arms  and  bearing  him  to  the  ground. 
Dropping  their  loads,  Bearwarden  and  Ayrault  threw 
themselves  upon  the  monster  with  their  hunting- 
knives  with  such  vim  that  in  a  few  seconds  it  beat 
a  hasty  retreat,  leaving,  as  it  did  so,  a  wake  of  phos- 
phorescent light. 

"  Are  you  hurt  ? "  asked  Bearwarden,  helping 
him  up. 

"Not  in  the  least,"  replied  Cortlandt.  "What 
surprises  me  is  that  I  am  not.  The  weight  of  that 
boa-constrictor  would  be  very  great  on  earth,  and 
here  I  should  think  it  would  be  simply  crushing." 

Groping  their  way  through  the  rapidly  growing 
dai'kness,  they  reached  the  raft  without  further  ad- 
venture, and,  once  on  the  lake,  had  plenty  of  light. 
Two  moons,  one  at  three  quarters  and  the  other  full, 
shone  brightly,  while  the  water  was  alive  with  gym- 
notuses  and  other  luminous  creatures.  Sitting  and 
lying  upon  the  cross-timbers,  they  looked  up  at  the 
sky.  The  Great  Bear  and  the  north  star  had  ex- 
actly the  same  relation  to  each  other  as  w^hen  seen 
from  the  earth,  while  the  other  constellations  and  the 


180  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

Milky  Way  looked  identically  as  when  they  had  so 
often  gazed  at  them  before,  and  some  idea  of  the 
immensity  of  space  was  conveyed  to  them.  Here 
was  no  change ;  though  they  had  travelled  three 
liundred  and  eighty  million  miles,  there  was  no  more 
perceptible  difference  than  if  they  had  not  moved  a 
foot.  Perhaps,  they  thought,  to  the  telescopes — if 
there  are  any — among  the  stars,  the  sun  was  seen  to 
be  accompanied  by  two  small,  dark  companions,  for 
Jupiter  and  Saturn  might  be  visible,  or  perhaps  it 
seemed  merely  as  a  slightly  variable  star,  in  years 
when  sun-spots  were  numerous,  or  as  the  larger  plan- 
ets in  their  revolutions  occasionally  intercepted  a 
part  of  its  light.  As  they  floated  along  they  noticed 
a  number  of  what  they  took  to  be  Will-o'-the-wisps. 
Several  of  these  great  globules  of  pale  flame  hovered 
about  them  in  the  air,  near  the  surface  of  the  water, 
and  anon  they  rose  till  they  hung  above  the  trees, 
apparently  having  no  forward  or  horizontal  motion 
except  when  taken  by  the  gentle  breeze,  merely  sink- 
ing and  rising. 

"  How  pretty  they  are  !  "  said  Cortlandt,  as  they 
watched  them.  "  For  bodies  consisting  of  marsh  gas, 
they  hold  together  wonderfully."* 


MASTODON  AND   WILL-O'-THE   WISPS.         181 

Presently  one  alighted  on  the  water  near  them. 
It  was  considerably  brighter  than  any  glow-worm, 
and  somewhat  larger  than  an  arc  lamp,  being  nearly 
three  feet  in  diameter ;  it  did  not  emit  much  light, 
but  would  itself  have  been  visible  from  a  considerable 
distance.  Cortlandt  tried  to  touch  it  with  a  raft-pole, 
but  could  not  reach  far  enough.  Presently  a  large 
fish  approached  it,  swimming  near  the  surface  of  the 
water.  When  it  was  close  to  the  Jack-o'-lantern,  or 
whatever  it  was,  there  was  a  splash,  the  fish  turned 
up  its  white  under  side,  and,  the  breeze  being  away 
from  the  raft,  the  fire-ball  and  its  victim  slowly 
floated  off  together.  There  were  frequently  a  dozen 
of  these  great  globules  in  sight  at  once,  rising  and 
descending,  the  observers  noticing  one  peculiarity, 
viz.,  that  their  brightness  increased  as  they  rose,  and 
decreased  as  they  sank. 

About  two  and  a  half  hours  after  sunset,  or  mid- 
night according  to  Jupiter  time,  they  fell  asleep,  but 
about  an  hour  later  Cortlandt  was  awakened  by  a 
weight  on  his  chest.  Starting  up,  he  perceived  a  huge 
white-faced  bat,  with  its  head  but  a  few  inches  from 
his.  Its  outstretched  wings  were  about  eight  feet 
across,  and   it   fastened  its   sharp  claws   upon   him. 


182  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

Seizing  it  by  the  throat,  he  struggled  violently.  His 
companions,  awakened  by  the  noise,  quickly  came  to 
his  rescue,  grasping  him  just  as  he  was  in  danger  of 
being:  drao^jred  off  the  raft,  and  in  another  moment 
Bearwarden's  knife  had  entered  the  creature's 
spine. 

"  This  evidently  belongs  to  the  blood-sucking 
species,"  said  Cortlandt.  "  I  seem  to  be  the  target 
for  all  these  beasts,  and  henceforth  shall  keep  my 
eyes  open  at  night." 

As  day  would  break  in  but  little  over  an  hour, 
they  decided  to  remain  awake,  and  they  pushed  the 
dead  bat  overboard,  where  it  was  soon  devoured  by 
fishes.  A  chill  had  come  upon  the  air,  and  the  in- 
cessant noise  of  the  forms  of  life  about  them  had  in 
a  measure  ceased. 

Cortlandt  passed  around  a  box  of  quinine  as  a 
preventive  against  malaria,  and  again  they  lay  back 
and  looked  at  the  stars.  The  most  splendid  sight  in 
their  sky  now  was  Saturn.  At  the  comparatively 
short  distance  this  great  planet  was  from  them,  it 
cast  a  distinct  shadow,  its  vast  rings  making  it  ap- 
pear twice  its  real  size.  With  the  first  glimmer  of 
dawn,  the  fire-balls  descended  to  the  surface  of  the 


MASTODON  AND  WILL-O'-THE  WISPS.         183 

water  and  disappeared  within  it,  their  lights  going 
out.  With  a  suddenness  to  which  the  explorers  were 
becoming  accustomed,  the  sun  burst  upon  them,  ris- 
ing as  perpendicularly  as  at  the  earth's  equator,  and 
more  than  twice  as  fast,  having  first  tinged  the  sky 
with  the  most  brilliant  hues. 

The  stream  had  left  the  forest  and  swamp,  and 
was  now  flowing  through  open  country  between  high 
banks.  Pushing  the  raft  ashore,  they  stepped  off  on 
the  sand,  and,  warming  up  the  remains  of  the  masto- 
don's heart,  ate  a  substantial  breakfast. 

While  washing  their  knives  in  the  stream  pre- 
paratory to  leaving  it — for  they  wished  to  return  to 
the  Callisto  by  completing  the  circle  they  had  begun — 
they  noticed  a  huge  flat  jelly-fish  in  shallow  water. 
It  was  so  transparent  that  they  could  see  the  sandy 
bottom  through  it.  As  it  seemed  to  be  asleep,  Bear- 
warden  stirred  up  the  water  around  it  and  poked  *it 
with  a  stick.  The  jelly-fish  first  drew  itself  together 
till  it  touched  the  surface  of  the  water,  being  nearly 
round,  then  it  slowly  left  the  stream  and  rose  till  it 
was  wholly  in  the  air,  and,  notwithstanding  the  sun- 
light, it  emitted  a  faint  glow. 

"  Ah  !  "  exclaimed  Bearwarden,  "  here  we  have 


184  A  JOL^RNEY  IN   OTHER  WORLDS. 

one  of  our  Jack-o'-lanterns.  Let  us  see  wliat  it  is 
going  to  do." 

"  It  is  incomprehensible  to  me,"  said  Cortlandt, 
"  how  it  maintains  itself  ;  for  it  has  neither  wings 
nor  visible  means  of  suj^port,  yet,  as  it  was  able  to 
immerse  itself  in  the  stream,  thereby  displacing  a 
volume  of  liquid  equivalent  to  its  bulk,  it  must  be  at 
least  as  heavy  as  water." 

The  jelly-fish  remained  poised  in  the  air  until 
directly  above  them,  when  it  began  to  descend. 

"  Stand  from  under  !  "  cried  Bearwarden,  stepping 
back.     "  I,  for  one,  should  not  care  to  be  touched." 

The  great  soft  mass  came  directly  over  the  spot 
on  which  they  had  been  standing,  and  stopped  its 
descent  about  three  feet  from  the  ground,  parallel  to 
which  it  was  slowly  carried  by  the  wind.  A  few  yards 
off,  in  the  direction  in  which  it  was  moving,  lay  a  long 
black  snake  asleep  on  the  sand.  When  directly  over 
its  victim  the  jelly  globule  again  sank  till  it  touched 
the  middle  of  the  reptile's  back.  The  serpent  imme- 
diately coiled  itself  in  a  knot,  but  was  already  dead. 
The  jelly-fish  did  not  swallow,  but  completely  sur- 
rounded its  prey,  and  again  rose  in  the  air,  with  the 
snake's  black  body  clearly  visible  within  it. 


MASTODON  AND  WILL-O'-THE   WISPS.         185 

"  Our  Will-o'-the-wisp  is  prettier  by  night  than  by 
day,"  said  Bearwarden.  "  I  suggest  that  we  investi- 
gate this  further." 

"  How  ?  "  asked  Cortlandt. 

"  By  destroying  its  life,"  replied  Bearwarden. 
"  Give  it  one  barrel  from  your  gun,  doctor,  and  see  if 
it  can  then  defy  gravitation." 

Accordingly  Cortlandt  took  careful  aim  at  the  ob- 
ject, about  twenty  yards  away,  and  fired.  The  main 
portion  of  the  jelly-fish,  with  the  snake  still  in  its 
embrace,  sailed  away,  but  many  pounds  of  jelly  fell 
to  the  ground.  Most  of  this  remained  where  it  had 
fallen,  but  a  few  of  the  larger  pieces  showed  a  faint 
luminosity  and  rose  again. 

"  You  cannot  kill  that  which  is  sim23ly  a  mass 
of  protoplasm,"  said  Cortlandt.  "  Doubtless  each  of 
those  pieces  will  form  a  new  organism.  This  proves 
that  there  are  ramifications  and  developments  of 
life  which  we  never  dreamed  of." 


CHAPTEK  YII. 


AN    UNSEEX    HUNTER. 


They  calculated  that  tliey  liad  come  ten  or  twelve 
miles  from  the  place  at  which  they  built  the  raft, 
while  the  damp  salt  breeze  blowing  from  the  south 
showed  them  they  were  near  the  ocean.  Concluding 
that  large  bodies  of  water  must  be  very  much  alike 
on  all  planets,  they  decided  to  make  for  a  range  of 
hills  due  north  and  a  few  miles  off,  and  to  complete 
the  circuit  of  the  square  in  returning  to  the  Callisto. 
The  soft  wet  sand  was  covered  with  huge  and  cu- 
rious tracks,  doubtless  made  by  creatures  that  had 
come  to  the  stream  during  the  night  to  drink,  and 
they  noticed  with  satisfaction  as  they  set  out  that  the 
fresher  ones  led  off  in  the  direction  in  which  they 
were  going.  For  practice,  they  blew  off  the  heads  of 
the  boa-constrictors  as  they  hung  from  the  trees, 
and  of  the  other  huge  snakes  that  moved  along  the 

(186) 


AN  UNSEEN  HUNTER.  187 

ground,   with    explosive    bullets,   in    every    thicket 
through  which  they  passed,  knowing  that  the  game, 
never  having  been  shot  at,  would  not  take  fright  at 
the  noise.     Sometimes  they  came  upon  great  masses 
of    snakes,  intertwined   and   coiled  like   worms ;  in 
these  cases  Cortlandt  brought  his  gun  into  play,  rak- 
ing them  with  duck-shot  to  his  heart's  content.     "  As 
the  function  of  these  reptiles,"  he  explained,  "  is  to 
form  a  soil  on  which  higher  life  may  grow,  we  may 
as  well  help  along  their  metamorphosis  by  artificial 
means."     They  were  impressed  by  the  tremendous 
cannon-like  reports  of  their  firearms,  which  they  per- 
ceived at  once  resulted  from  the  great  density  of  the 
Jovian  atmosphere.     And  this  was  also  a  consider- 
able aid  to  them  in  making  muscular  exertion,  for  it 
had  just  the  reverse  effect  of  rarefied  mountain  air, 
and  they  seldom  had  to  expand  their  lungs  fully  in 
order  to  breathe. 

The  ground  continued  to  be  marked  with  very 
large  footprints.  Often  the  impressions  were  those 
of  a  biped  like  some  huge  bird,  except  that  occa- 
sionally the  creature  had  put  down  one  or  both  fore- 
feet, and  a  thick  tail  had  evidently  dragged  nearly  all 
the  time  it  walked  erect.  Presently,  coming  to 
13 


1S8  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

something  tliey  had  taken  for  a  large  flat  rock,  they 
were  surprised  to  see  it  'move.  It  was  about  twelve 
feet  wide  by  eighteen  feet  long,  while  its  shell 
seemed  at  least  a  foot  thick,  and  it  was  of  course  the 
largest  turtle  they  had  ever  seen. 

'^  Twenty-four  people  could  dine  at  a  table  of 
this  size  with  ease,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  while  it 
would  make  soup  for  a  regiment.  I  wonder  if  it 
belongs  to  the  snapping  or  diamond-backed  species." 

At  this  juncture  the  monster  again  moved. 

"  As  it  is  heading  in  our  direction,"  resumed 
Bearwarden,  "  I  vote  we  strike  for  a  free  pass,"  and, 
taking  a  run,  he  sprang  with  his  spiked  boots  upon 
the  turtle's  shell  and  clambered  upon  the  flat  top, 
which  was  about  six  feet  from  the  ground.  He  was 
quickly  followed  by  Ayrault,  who  was  not  much 
ahead  of  Cortlandt,  for,  notwithstanding  his  fifty 
years,  the  professor  was  very  spry.  The  tortoise  was 
almost  the  exact  counterpart  of  the  Glyptodon  asper 
that  formerly  existed  on  earth,  and  shambled  along 
at  a  jerky  gait,  about  half  as  fast  again  as  they  could 
walk,  and  while  it  continued  .to  go  in  their  direction 
they  were  greatly  pleased.  They  soon  found  that  by 
dropping  the  butts  of  their  rifles  sharply  and  simul- 


AN  UNSEEN  HUNTER.  189 

taneously  on  either  side,  just  back  of  the  head,  they 
could  direct  their  course,  by  making  their  steed 
swerve  away  from  the  stamping. 

"  It  is  strange,"  said  Ayrault,  ''  that,  with  the 
exception  of  the  mastodon  and  this  tortoise,  we  have 
seen  none  of  the  monsters  that  seem  to  appear  at  the 
close  of  Carboniferous  periods,  although  the  ground 
is  covered  with  their  tracks." 

"  Probably  we  did  not  reach  the  grounds  at  the 
right  time  of  day,"  replied  Bearwarden.  "The 
large  game  doubtless  stays  in  the  woods  and  jungles 

till  night." 

"  I  fancy,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  we  shall  find  repre- 
sentatives of  all  the  species  that  once  lived  upon  the 
earth.  In  the  case  of  the  singing  flowers  and  the 
Jack-o'-lantern  jelly-fish,  we  have,  in  addition,  seen 
developments  the  existence  of  which  no  scientist  has 
ever  before  even  suspected." 

Occasionally  the  tortoise  stopped,  whereupon  they 
poked  it  from  behind  with  their  knives.  It  was  a 
vicious-looking  brute,  and  had  a  huge  horny  beak, 
with  which  it  bit  off  young  trees  that  stood  in  its 
way  as  though  they  had  been  blades  of  grass.  They 
were  passing  through  a  valley  about  half  a  mile  wide, 


190  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 

bordered  on  each  side  by  woods,  when  Bearwarden 
suddenly  exclaimed,  "  Here  we  have  it !  "  and,  look- 
ing forward,  they  unexpectedly  saw  a  head  rise  and 
remain  poised  about  fifteen  feet  from  the  ground. 
It  was  a  dinosaur,  and  belonged  to  the  scaled  or 
armoured  species.  In  a  few  moments  another  head 
appeared,  and  towered  several  feet  above  the  first. 
The  head  was  obviously  reptilian,  but  had  a  beak 
similar  to  that  of  their  tortoise.  The  hind  legs 
were  developed  like  those  of  a  kangaroo,  while  the 
small  rudimentary  forepaws,  which  could  be  used  as 
hands  or  for  going  quadruped-fashion,  now  hung 
down.  The  strong  thick  tail  was  evidently  of  great 
use  to  them  when  standing  erect,  by  forming  a  sort 
of.  tripod. 

"  How  I  wish  we  could  take  a  pair  of  those 
creatures  with  us  when  we  return  to  the  earth ! "  said 
Cortlandt. 

"  They  would  be  trump  cards,"  replied  Bear- 
w^arden,  "  in  a  zoological  garden  or  a  dime  museum, 
and  would  take  the  wind  out  of  the  sails  of  all  the 
other  freaks." 

As  they  lay  flat  on  the  turtle's  back,  the  monsters 
gazed  at  them  unconcernedly,  munching  the  palm- 


The  ride  on  the  giant  tortoise. 


AN  UNSEEN  HUNTER.  191 

tree  fruit  so  loudly  that  they  could  be  heard  a  long 
distance. 

"  Having  nothing  to  fear  from  a  tortoise,"  re- 
sumed Cortlandt,  ^'  they  may  allow  us  to  stalk  them. 
We  are  in  their  eyes  like  hippocentaurs,  except  that 
we  are  part  of  a  tortoise  instead  of  part  of  a  horse,  or 
else  they  take  us  for  a  parasite  or  fibrous  growth  on 
the  shell." 

"They  would  not  have  much  to  fear  from  us 
as  we  really  are,"  replied  Bearwarden,  "  were  it  not 
for  our  explosive  bullets." 

"  I  am  surprised,"  said  Ayrault,  "  that  grami- 
nivorous animals  should  be  so  heavily  armed  as 
these,  since  there  can  be  no  great  struggle  in  obtain- 
ing their  food." 

"  From  the  looks  of  their  jaws,"  replied  Cort- 
landt, "  I  should  say  they  are  omnivorous,  and  would 
doubtless  prefer  meat  to  what  they  are  eating  now. 
Something  seems  to  have  gone  wrong  with  the  ani- 
mal creation  hereabouts  to-day." 

Their  war-horse  clanked  along  like  a  badly  rusted 
machine,  approaching  the  dinosaurs  obliquely.  When 
only  about  fifty  yards  intervened,  as  the  hunters  were 
preparing  to  aim,  their  attention  was  diverted  by  a 


192  ^  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

tremendous  commotion  in  tlie  woods  on  their  left 
and  somewhat  ahead.  With  tlie  crunching  of  dead 
branches  and  swaying  of  the  trees,  a  drove  of  mon- 
sters made  a  hasty  exit  and  sped  across  the  open 
valley.  Some  showed  only  the  tops  of  their  backs 
above  the  long  grass,  while  others  shambled  and 
leaped  with  their  heads  nearly  thirty  feet  above  the 
ground.  The  dinosaurs  instantly  dropped  on  all- 
fours  and  joined  in  the  flight,  though  at  about  half- 
minute  intervals  they  rose  on  their  hind  legs  and  for 
a  few  seconds  ran  erect.  The  drove  passed  about 
half  a  mile  before  the  travellers,  and  made  straight 
for  the  woods  opposite ;  but  hardly  had  the  monsters 
been  out  of  sight  two  minutes  when  they  reappeared, 
even  more  precipitately  than  before,  and  fled  up  the 
valley  in  the  same  direction  as  the  tortoise. 

"  The  animals  here,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  behave 
as  though  they  were  going  to  catch  a  train  ;.  only 
our  friend  beneath  us  seems  superior  to  haste." 

"  I  would  give  a  good  deal  to  know,"  said  Cort- 
landt,  "  what  is  pursuing  those  giants,  and  whether  it 
is  identical  or  similar  to  the  mutilator  of  the  masto- 
don. Kothing  but  abject  terror  could  make  them 
run  like  that." 


AN  UNSEEN  HUNTER.  193 

"  I  have  a  well-formed  idea,"  said  Bearwarden, 
"  that  a  hunt  is  going  on,  with  no  doubt  two  parties, 
one  in  the  woods  on  either  side,  and  that  the  hunters 
may  be  on  a  scale  commensurate  with  that  of  their 
victims." 

"If  the  excitement  is  caused  by  men,"  replied 
Cortlandt,  "  our  exploration  may  turn  out  to  be  a  far 
more  difficult  undertaking  than  we  anticipated.  But 
why,  if  there  are  men  in  those  woods,  do  they  not 
show  themselves  ? — for  they  could  certainly  keep  pace 
with  the  game  more  easily  in  the  open  than  -among 
the  trees." 

"  Because,"  replied  Bearwarden,  "  the  men  in  the 
woods  are  doubtless  the  beaters,  whose  duty  it  is  to 
drive  the  game  into  and  up  the  valley,  at  the  end  of 
which  the  killing  will  be  done." 

"  We  may  have  a  chance  to  see  it,"  said  Ayrault, 
"or  to  take  a  hand,  for  we  are  travelling  straight 
in  that  direction,  and  shall  be  able  to  give  a  good 
account  ourselves  if  our  rights  are  challenged." 

"  Why,"  asked  Cortlandt,  "  if  the  hunting  parties 
that  have  been  in  our  vicinity  were  only  beaters, 
should  they  have  mutilated  the  mastodon  in  such  a 
way  that  he  could  not  walk  ?     And  how  were  they 


194  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

able  to  take  themselves  ojff  so  quickly — for  man  in 
his  natural  state  has  never  been  a  fast  mover?  I 
repeat,  it  will  upset  my  theories  if  we  find  men." 

It  was  obvious  to  them  that  tortoises  were  not 
much  troubled  by  the  apparently  general  foe,  for  the 
specimen  in  which  they  were  just  then  interested 
continued  his  course  entirely  unconcerned.  Soon, 
however,  he  seemed  to  feel  fatigue,  for  he  drew  his 
feet  and  head  within  his  shell,  which  he  tightly 
closed,  and  after  that  no  poking  or  prodding  had  the 
desired  effect. 

"  I  suspect  we  must  depend  on  shank's  mares  for  a 
time,"  said  Bearwarden,  cheerfully,  as  they  scrambled 
down. 

"  We  can  now  see,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  why  our 
friend  was  so  unconcerned,  since  he  has  but  to  draw 
himself  within  himself  to  become  invulnerable  to 
anything  short  of  a  stroke  of  lightning;  for  no 
bird  could  have  power  enough  to  raise  and  drop 
him  from  a  great  height  upon  rocks,  as  the  eagles 
do  on  earth." 

"  I  suspect,  if  anxious  for  turtle  soup,"  said  Bear- 
warden,  "  we  must  attach  a  lightning-rod,  and  wait 
for  a  thunderstorm  to  electrocute  him." 


CHAPTER  Ylir. 


Feeling  grateful  to  the  huge  tortoise  for  the 
good  service  he  had  rendered,  they  shot  a  number 
of  the  great  snakes  that  were  gliding  about  on  the 
ground,  and  placed  them  where  he  would  find  them 
on  awaking.  They  then  picked  their  way  careful- 
ly towards  stretches  on  which  the  grass  was  short- 
est. When  they  had  gone  about  two  miles,  and  had 
already  reached  higher  ground,  they  came  to  a  ridge 
of  rock  running  at  right  angles  to  their  course. 
This  they  climbed,  and  on  looking  over  the  edge  of 
the  crest  beheld  a  sight  that  made  their  hearts  stand 
still.  A  monster,  somewhat  resembling  an  alligator, 
except  that  the  back  was  arched,  was  waddling  about 
perhaps  seventy-five  yards  from  them.  It  was  sixty 
feet  long,  and  to  the  top  of  its  scales  was  at  least 
twenty-five  feet  high.    It  was  constantly  moving,  and 

(195) 


196  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

the  travellers  noticed  with  some  dismay  that  its  mo- 
tion was  far  more  rapid  than  they  would  have  sup- 
posed it  could  be. 

"  It  is  also  a  dinosaur,"  said  the  professor,  watch- 
ing it  sharply,  "  and  very  closely  resembles  the  Ste- 
gosaurus  nngulatus  restored  in  the  museums.  The 
question  is,  What  shall  we  do  with  the  living  speci- 
men, now  that  we  have  it  ? " 

"  Our  chairman,"  said  Ayrault,  "  must  find  a  way 
to  kill  it,  so  that  we  may  examine  it  closely." 

"  The  trouble  is,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  our  bullets 
will  explode  before  they  penetrate  the  scales.  In 
the  absence  of  any  way  of  making  a  passage  for  an 
explosive  ball  by  means  of  a  solid  one,  we  must 
strike  a  vital  spot.  His  scales  being  no  harder  than 
the  trunk  of  a  tree,  we  can  wound  him  terribly  by 
touching  him  anywhere ;  but  there  is  no  object  in  do- 
ing this  unless  we  can  kill  him,  especially  as  there  is 
no  deep  stream,  such  as  would  have  delayed  the  mas- 
todon in  reaching  us,  to  protect  us  here.  We  must 
spread  out  so  as  to  divert  his  attention  from  one  to 
another." 

After  some  consultation  it  was  decided  that  Cort- 
landt,  who  had  only  a  shot-gun,  should  remain  where 


SPORTSMEN'S  REVERIES.  197 

they  were,  while  Bearwarden  and  Ayrault  moved 
some  distance  to  the  right  and  left.  At  a  signal 
from  Cortlandt,  who  was  to  attract  the  monster's 
attention,  the  wings  were  to  advance  simultaneously. 
These  arrangements  they  carried  out  to  the  let- 
ter. When  Bearwarden  and  Ayrault  had  gone  about 
twenty-five  yards  on  either  side,  the  doctor  imitated 
the  peculiar  grunting  sound  of  an  alligator,  at  which 
the  colossal  monster  turned  and  faced  him,  while 
Bearwarden  and  Ayrault  moved  to  the  attack.  The 
plan  of  this  was  good,  for,  with  his  attention  fixed 
on  three  objects,  the  dinosaur  seemed  confused,  and 
though  Bearwarden  and  Ayrault  had  good  angles 
from  which  to  shoot,  there  was  no  possibility  of  their 
hitting  each  other.  They  therefore  advanced  steadily 
with  their  rifles  half  up.  Though  their  own  danger 
increased  with  each  step,  in  the  event  of  their  miss- 
ing, the  chance  of  their  shooting  wild  decreased,  the 
idea  being  to  reach  the  brain  through  the  eye.  Cort- 
landt's  part  had  also  its  risks,  for,  being  entirely  de- 
fenceless with  his  shot-gun  against  the  huge  creature, 
whose  attention  it  was  his  duty  to  attract,  he  staked 
all  on  the  marksmanship  of  his  friends.  Not  con- 
sidering   this,  however,  he   stood   his  ground,  hav- 


198  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

ing  tlie  thumb-piece  on  his  Winchester  magazine 
shoved  up  and  ready  to  make  a  noisy  diversion 
if  necessary  in  belialf  of  either  wing.  Having 
aroused  the  monster's  curiosity,  Cortlandt  sprang  up, 
waving  his  arms  and  his  gun.  The  dinosaur  lowered 
his  head  as  if  to  charge,  thereby  bringing  it  to  a  level 
with  the  rifles,  either  of  which  could  have  given  it 
the  fatal  shot.  But  as  their  fingers  pressed  the  trig- 
gers the  reptile  soared  up  thirty  feet  in  the  air. 
Ayrault  pulled  for  his  first  sight,  shooting  through 
the  lower  jaw,  and  shivering  that  member,  while 
Bearwarden  changed  his  aim  and  sighted  straight  for 
the  heart.  In  an  instant  the  monster  was  down  airain, 
just  missing  Ayrault's  head  as  he  stepped  back,  and 
Bearwarden's  rifle  poured  a  stream  of  explosive  balls 
against  its  side,  rending  and  blowing  away  the  heavy 
scales.  Having  drawn  the  dinosaur's  attention  to 
himself,  he  retreated,  while  Ayrault  renewed  the  at- 
tack. Cortlandt,  seeing  that  the  original  plan  had 
miscarried,  poured  showers  of  small  shot  against  the 
huge  beast's  face.  Finally,  one  of  Ayrault's  balls  ex- 
ploded in  the  brain,  and  all  was  over. 

"  We  have    killed    it   at  last,"  said  Bearwarden  ; 
"  but   the    first    attack,  though  artistic,  had  not  the 


SPORTSxMEN'S  REVERIES.  I99 

brilliant  results  we  expected.  These  creatures' 
mode  of  fighting  is  doubtless  somewhat  similar  to 
that  of  the  kangaroo,  which  it  is  said  puts  its  fore- 
paws  gently,  almost  lovingly,  on  a  man's  shoulders, 
and  then  disembowels  him  by  the  rapid  movement 
of  a  hind  leg.  But  we  shall  get  used  to  their  method, 
and  can  do  better  next  time." 

They  then  reloaded  their  weapons  and,  while 
Cortlandt  examined  their  victim  from  a  naturalist's 
point  of  view,  Bearwarden  and  Ayrault  secured  the 
heart,  which  they  thought  would  be  the  most 
edible  part,  the  operation  being  rendered  possible 
by  the  amount  of  armour  the  explosive  balls  had 
stripped  off. 

"  To-morrow,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  we  must  make 
it  a  point  to  get  some  well-fed  birds;  for  I  can 
roast,  broil,  or  fricassee  them  to  a  turn.  Life  is 
too  short  to  live  on  this  meat  in  such  a  sportsman's 
paradise.  In  any  case  there  can  be  no  end  of  mas- 
todons, mammoths,  woolly  rhinoceroses,  moa  birds, 
and  all  such  shooting." 

As  the  sun  was  already  near  the  horizon,  they 
chose  a  dry,  sandy  place,  to  secure  as  much  immu- 
nity as  possible  from  nocturnal  visits,  and,  after  pro- 


200  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  \YORLDS. 

curing  a  supply  of  water  from  a  pool,  proceeded  to 
arrange  their  camp  for  tlie  night.  They  first  laid 
out  the  protection-wires,  setting  them  while  the  sun 
still  shone.  Kext  they  built  a  lire  and  prepared 
their  evening  meal.  While  they  ate  it,  twilight  be- 
came night,  and  the  fire-flies,  twinkling  in  legions  in 
the  neighbouring  valley,  seemed  like  the  lamps  of  a 
great  city. 

"Their  lights,"  said  Bearwarden,  pointing  to 
them,  "  are  not  as  fine  as  the  jelly-fish  AVill-o'-the- 
wisps  were  last  night,  but  they  are  not  so  danger- 
ous. Ko  gymnotiis  or  electric  eel  that  I  have  ever 
seen  compared  with  them,  and  I  am  convinced  that 
any  one  of  us  they  might  have  touched  would  have 
been  in  kingdom  come." 

The  balmy  air  soothed  the  travellers'  brows  as 
they  reclined  against  mounds  of  sand,  while  the 
flowers  in  the  valley  sent  up  their  dying  notes. 
One  by  one  the  moons  arose,  till  four — among  them 
the  Lilliputian,  discovered  by  Prof.  Barnard  in  1893 
— were  in  the  sky,  flooding  the  landscape  with  their 
silvery  light,  and  something  in  the  surroundings 
touched  a  sympathetic  cord  in  the  men. 

'"  Oh   that  I   were  vouno^  a^^ain,''   said  Cortlandt, 


SPORTSMEN'S  REVERIES.  201 

"  and  had  life  before  me !  I  should  like  to  remain 
here  and  grow  up  with  this  planet,  in  which  we 
already  perceive  the  next  'New  World.  The  beauties 
of  earth  are  barren  compared  with  the  scenes  we 
have  here." 

"You  remember,"  replied  Bearwarden,  "how 
Cicero  defends  old  age  in  his  De  Senectute,  and 
shows  that  while  it  has  almost  everything  that  youth 
has,  it  has  also  a  sense  of  calm  and  many  things 
besides." 

"  Yes,"  answered  Cortlandt,  "  but,  while  plausi- 
ble, it  does  not  convince.  The  pleasures  of  age  are 
largely  negative,  the  old  being  happy  when  free 
from  pain," 

"  Since  the  highest  joy  of  life,"  said  Ayrault, 
"  is  coming  to  know  our  Creator,  I  should  say  the 
old,  being  further  advanced,  would  be  the  happier 
of  the  two.  I  should  never  regard  this  material  life 
as  greatly  to  be  prized  for  itself.  You  remember 
the  old  song : 

" '  0  Youth !    When  we  come  to  consider 
The  pain,  the  toil,  and  the  strife, 
The  happiest  man  of  all  is 
The  one  who  has  finished  his  life.' 


202  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

^'I  suspect,"  continued  Ayrault,  "that  the  man 
who  reaches  even  the  lowest  plane  in  paradise 
will  find  far  more  beautiful  visions  than  any  we 
have  here." 

As  they  had  but  little  rest  the  night  before,  they 
were  all  tired.  The  warm  breeze  swayed  the  long 
dry  grass,  causing  it  to  give  out  a  soft  rustle ;  all 
birds  except  the  flitting  bats  were  asleep  among  the 
tall  ferns  or  on  the  great  trees  that  spread  their 
branches  towards  heaven.  There  was  nothing  to 
recall  a  picture  of  the  huge  monsters  they  had  seen 
that  day,  or  of  the  still  more  to  be  dreaded  terror 
these  had  borne  witness  to.  Thus  night  closes  the 
activities  of  the  day,  and  in  its  serene  grandeur  the 
soul  has  time  to  think.  AVhile  they  thought,  how- 
ever, drowsiness  overcame  them,  and  in  a  little  while 
all  were  asleep. 

The  double  line  of  protection-wires  encircled 
them  like  a  silent  guard,  while  the  methodical  ticking 
of  the  alarm-clock  that  was  to  wake  them  at  the 
approach  of  danger,  and  register  the  hour  of  inter- 
ruption, formed  a  curious  contrast  to  the  irregular 
cries  of  the  night-hawks  in  the  distance.  Time  and 
again  some  huge  iguanodon  or  a  hipsohopus  would 


SPORTSMEN'S  REVERIES.  203 

pass,  shaking  the  ground  with  its  tread  ;  but  so  im- 
phcit  was  the  travellers'  trust  in  the  vigilance  of 
their  mechanical  and  tireless  watch,  that  they  slept 
on  as  calmly  and  unconcernedly  as  though  they  had 
been  in  their  beds  at  home,  while  the  tick  was  as 
constant  and  regular  as  a  sentry's  march.  The  wires 
of  course  did  not  protect  them  from  creatures  hav- 
ing wings,  and  they  ran  some  risk  of  a  visitation 
from  the  blood-sucking  bats.  The  far-away  vol- 
canoes occasionally  sent  up  sheets  of  flame,  which 
in  the  distance  were  like  summer  lightning ;  the 
torrents  of  lava  and  crashes  that  had  sounded  so 
thunderous  when  near,  were  now  like  the  murmur  of 
the  ocean's  ebb  tide,  lulling  the  terrestrials  to  deeper 
sleep.  The  pale  moons  were  at  intervals  momen- 
tarily obscured  by  the  rushing  clouds  in  the  upper 
air,  only  to  reappear  soon  afterwards  as  serene  as 
before.     All  ISTature  seemed  at  rest. 

Shortly  before  dawn  there  was  an  unusually 
heavy  step.  A  moment  later  the  ever- vigilant  bat- 
teries poured  forth  their  current,  and  the  clang  of 
the  alarm-bell  made  the  still  night  ring.  In  an  in- 
stant  the  three  men    were  awake,    each    resting  on 

one  knee,  with  their  backs  towards  the  centre  and 
14 


20J:  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

their  polished  barrels  raised.  It  was  not  long  before 
tlicy  perceived  the  intruder  by  the  moonlight.  A 
huge  monster  of  the  Triceratops  prorsus  species  had 
entered  the  camp.  It  was  shaped  something  like  an 
elephant,  but  had  ten  or  twelve  times  the  bulk, 
being  over  forty  feet  in  length,  not  including  the 
long,  thick  tail.  The  head  carried  two  huge  horns 
on  the  forehead  and  one  on  the  nose. 

"  A  plague  on  my  shot-gun  ! "  said  Cortlandt. 
"  Had  I  known  how  much  of  this  kind  of  game 
we  should  see,  I  too  should  have  brought  a  rifle." 

The  monster  was  entangled  in  the  wires,  and  in 
another  second  would  have  stepped  on  the  batteries 
that  were  still  causino^  the  bell  to  rinor. 

"  Aim  for  the  heart,"  said  Bearwarden  to  Ay- 
rault.  ^'  When  you  show  me  his  ribs,  I  will  follow 
you  in  the  hole." 

Ayrault  instantly  fired  for  a  point  just  back  of 
the  left  foreleg.  The  explosion  had  the  same  effect 
as  on  the  mastodon,  removing  a  half -barrel  of  hide, 
etc ;  and  the  next  second  Bearwarden  sent  a 
bullet  less  than  an  inch  from  where  Ayrault's  had 
stopped.  Before  the  colossus  could  turn,  each  had 
caused    several  explosions  in  close  proximity  to  the 


SPORTSMEN'S  REVERIES.  205 

first.  The  creature  was  of  course  terribly  wounded, 
and  several  ribs  were  cracked,  but  no  ball  had  gone 
through.  AYith  a  roar  it  made  straight  for  the 
woods,  and  with  surprising  agility,  running  fully  as 
fast  as  an  elephant.  Bearwarden  and  Ayrault  kept 
up  a  rapid  fire  at  the  left  hind  leg,  and  soon  com- 
pletely disabled  it.  The  dinosaur,  however,  sup- 
ported itself  with  its  huge  tail,  and  continued  to 
make  good  time.  Knowing  they  could  not  give  it  a 
fatal  wound  at  the  intervening  distance,  in  the  un- 
certain light,  they  stopped  firing  and  set  out  in 
pursuit.  Cortlandt  paused  to  stop  the  bell  that 
still  rang,  and  then  put  his  best  foot  foremost  in 
regaining  his  friends.  For  half  a  mile  they  hurried 
along,  until,  seeing  by  the  quantity  of  blood  on  the 
ground  that  they  were  in  no  danger  of  losing  the 
game,  they  determined  to  save  their  strength.  The 
trail  entered  the  woods  by  a  narrow  ravine,  passed 
through  what  proved  to  be  but  a  belt  of  timber, 
and  then  turned  north  to  the  right.  Presently  in 
the  semi-darkness  they  saw  the  monster's  head 
against  the  sky.  He  was  browsing  among  the  trees, 
tearing  off  the  young  branches,  and  the  hunters  suc- 
ceeded   in  getting  within  seventy-five   yards  before 


206  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

being  discovered.  Just  as  he  began  to  run,  the  two 
rifles  again  fired,  this  time  at  the  right  hind  leg, 
which  tliey  succeeded  in  hamstringing.  After  that 
the  Triceratops  prorsus  was  at  their  mercy,  and  thej 
quickly  put  an  end  to  its  suffering. 

"  The  sun  is  about  to  rise,"  said  Bearwarden ; 
''  in  a  few  minutes  we  shall  have  enough  light." 

They  cut  out  a  dozen  thick  slices  of  tenderloin 
steak,  and  soon  were  broiling  and  eating  a  substantial 
breakfast. 

"•  There  are  not  as  many  spectators  to  watch  us 
eat  here,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  as  in  the  woods.  I  sug- 
gest that,  after  returning  to  camp  for  our  blankets 
and  things,  we  steer  for  the  Callisto,  via  this  Tri- 
ceratops, to  see  what  creatures  have  been  attracted 
by  the  body." 

On  finishing  their  meal  they  returned  to  the 
place  at  which  they  had  passed  the  night.  Having 
straightened  the  protection-wires,  which  had  become 
twisted,  and  arranged  their  impedimenta,  they  set 
out,  and  were  soon  once  more  beside  their  latest 
victim. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    HONEY    OF   DEATH. 

At  first  nothing  seemed  to  have  been  disturbed, 
when  they  suddenly  perceived  that  both  forelegs 
were  missing.  On  further  examination  they  found 
that  the  ponderous  tail,  seven  feet  in  diameter,  was 
cut  through  in  two  places,  the  thicker  portion  hav- 
ing disappeared,  and  that  the  heavy  bones  in  this 
extremity  of  the  vertebral  column  had  been  severed 
like  straws.  The  cut  surfaces  were  but  little  cooler 
than  the  interior  of  the  body,  showing  how  recently 
the  mutilation  had  been  effected. 

"By  all  the  gods!"  exclaimed  Bearwarden,  "it 
is  easy  to  see  the  method  in  this ;  the  hunters  have 
again  cut  off  only  those  parts  that  could  be  easily 
rolled.  These  Jovian  fellows  must  have  weapons 
compared  with  which  the  old  scythe  chariots  would 
be  but  toys,  with  which  they  amputate  the  legs  of 

(207) 


208  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

their  victims.  We  must  see  to  it  that  their  scimi- 
tars do  not  come  too  near  to  ns,  and  I  venture  to 
hope  that  in  our  bullets  they  will  find  their  match. 
What  say  you,  doctor  ?  " 

"  I  see  no  depression  such  as  such  heavy  bodies 
would  necessarily  have  made  had  they  been  rolled 
along  the  ground,  neither  does  it  seem  to  me  that 
these  curious  tracks  in  the  sand  are  those  of  men." 

The  loose  earth  looked  as  if  the  cross-ties  of 
some  railroad  had  been  removed,  the  space  formerly 
occupied  having  been  but  partly  filled,  and  these 
depressions  were  across  the  probable  direction  of 
motion. 

"  Whatever  was  capable  of  chasing  mastodons 
and  carrying  such  weights,"  said  Ayrault,  "  will, 
I  suspect,  have  little  to  fear  from  us.  Probably 
nothing  short  of  light  artillery  would  have  much 
effect." 

"  I  dare  say,"  replied  Bearwarden,  "  we  had 
better  give  the  unknown  quantity  a  wide  berth, 
though  I  would  give  a  year's  salary  to  see  what  it 
is  like.  The  absence  of  other  tracks  shows  that 
his  confreres  leave  '  Scissor-jaw'  alone." 

Keeping  a  sharp  lookout  in  all  directions,  they 


^ 


^ 


A  battle  royal  on  Jupiter. 


THE  HONEY  OF  DEATH.  209 

resumed  their  march  along  the  third  side  of  the 
square  which  was  to  bring  them  back  to  the  CalUsto. 
Their  course  was  parallel  to  the  stream,  and  on  com- 
paratively high  ground.  Cortlandt's  gun  did  good 
service,  bringing  down  between  fifty  and  sixty  birds 
that  usually  allowed  them  to  get  as  near  as  they 
pleased,  and  often  seemed  unwilling  to  leave  their 
branches.  By  the  time  they  were  ready  for  lunch- 
eon they  saw  it  would  be  dark  in  an  hour.  As  the 
rapidity  of  the  planet's  rotation  did  not  give  them  a 
chance  to  become  tired,  they  concluded  not  to  pitch 
their  camp,  but  to  resume  the  march  by  moonlight, 
which  would  be  easy  in  the  high,  open  country  they 
were  traversing. 

While  in  quest  of  fire-wood,  they  came  upon 
great  heaps  of  bones,  mostly  those  of  birds,  and 
were  attracted  by  the  tall,  bell-shaped  flowers  grow- 
ing luxuriantly  in  their  midst.  These  exhaled  a 
most  delicious  perfume,  and  at  the  centre  of  each 
flower  was  a  viscous  liquid,  the  colour  of  honey. 

"If  this  tastes  as  well  as  it  looks,"  said  Bear- 
warden,  "  it  will  come  in  well  for  dessert " ;  saying 
which  he  thrust  his  finger  into  the  recesses  of  the 
flower,  intending  to  taste  the  essence.     Quietly,  but 


210  A  JOURNEY   IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

like  a  flash,  the  flower  closed,  his  hand  being  nearly 
caught  and  badly  scratched  by  the  long,  sharp  thorns 
that  now  appeared  at  the  edges. 

"  Ha  !  "  he  exclaimed,  ''  a  sensitive  and  you  may 
almost  say  a  man-eating  plant.  This  doubtless  has 
been  the  fate  of  these  birds,  whose  bones  now  lie 
bleaching  at  its  feet  after  they  have  nourished  its 
lips  with  their  lives.  Xo  doubt  the  plant  has  use 
for  them  still,  since  their  skeletons  may  serve  to 
fertilize  its  roots." 

Wishing  to  investigate  further,  Bearwarden 
placed  one  of  the  birds  they  had  shot  within  the 
bell  of  another  flower,  which  immediately  contracted 
with  such  force  that  they  saw  drops  of  blood 
squeezed  out.  After  some  minutes  the  flower 
opened,  as  beautiful  as  ever,  and  discharged  an 
oblong  ball  compressed  to  about  the  size  of  a  hen's 
e^g,  though  the  bird  that  was  placed  within  it  had 
been  as  large  as  a  small  duck.  Towards  evening 
these  flowers  sent  up  their  most  beautiful  song,  to 
hear  which  flocks  of  birds  came  from  far  and 
near,  alighting  on  the  trees,  and  many  were  lured  to 
death  by  the  siren  strains  and  the  honey. 

Before  resuming  their  journey,  the  travellers  paid 


THE  HONEY   OF  DEATH.  211 

a  parting  visit  to  the  bell-sliaped  lilies  on  their  pyra- 
mids of  bones.  The  flowers  were  closed  for  the 
night,  and  the  travellers  saw  by  the  moonlight  that 
the  white  mounds  were  simply  alive  with  diamond- 
headed  snakes.  These  coiled  themselves,  flattened 
their  heads,  and  set  up  such  a  hissing  on  the  explor- 
ers' approach  that  they  were  glad  to  retire,  and  leave 
this  curious  contrast  of  hideousness  and  beauty  to  the 
fire-flies  and  the  moons.  Marching  along  in  Indian 
file,  the  better  to  avoid  treading  on  the  writhing  ser- 
pents that  strewed  the  ground,  they  kept  on  for 
about  two  hours.  They  frequently  passed  huge  heaps 
or  mounds  of  bones,  evidently  the  remains  of  hears 
or  other  large  animals.  The  carnivorous  plants  grow- 
ing at  their  centre  were  often  like  hollow  trees,  and 
might  easily  have  received  the  three  travellers  in  one 
embrace.  But  as  before,  the  mounds  were  alive  with 
serpents  that  evidently  made  them  their  homes,  and 
raised  an  angry  hiss  whenever  the  men  approached. 

"  The  wonder  to  me,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  is,  that 
these  snakes  do  not  protect  the  game,  by  keeping  it 
from  the  life-devouring  plants.  It  may  be  that  they 
do  not  show  themselves  by  day  or  when  the  victims 
are   near,  or   that  the   quadrupeds   on   wdiich   these 


212  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER   \;\'ORLDS. 

plants  live  take  a  pleasure,  like  deer,  in  killing  tliem 
by  jumping  with  all  four  feet  upon  their  backs  or  in 
some  other  way,  and  after  that  are  entrapped  by  the 
flowers." 

Shortly  after  midnight  they  rested  for  a  half  hour, 
but  the  dawn  found  them  trudging  along  steadilj^, 
though  somewhat  wearily,  and  having  about  com- 
pleted the  third  side  of  their  square.  Accordingly, 
they  soon  made  a  right-angle  turn  to  the  left,  and 
had  been  picking  their  way  over  the  rough  ground 
for  nearly  two  hours,  with  the  sun  already  high  in 
the  sky,  when  they  noticed  a  diminution  of  light. 
Glancing  up,  they  saw  that  one  of  the  moons  was 
passing  across  the  sun,  and  that  they  were  on  the  eve 
of  a  total  eclipse. 

"  Since  all  but  the  fifth  moon,"  said  Cortlandt, 
"  revolve  exactly  in  the  plane  of  Jupiter's  equator, 
any  inhabitants  that  settle  there  will  become  accus- 
tomed to  eclipses,  for  there  must  be  one  of  the  sun, 
and  also  of  the  moons,  at  each  revolution,  or  about 
forty-five  liundred  in  every  Jovian  year.  The  reason 
we  have  seen  none  before  is,  because  we  are  not 
exactly  on  the  equator." 

They  had  a  glimpse  of  the  coronal  streamers  as  the 


THE  HONEY  OF  DEATH.  213 

last  portion  of  the  sun  was  covered,  and  all  the  other 
phenomena  that  attend  an  eclipse  on  earth.  For  a 
few  minutes  there  was  a  total  return  to  night.  The 
twinkling  stars  and  other  moons  shone  tranquilly  in 
the  sky,  and  even  the  noise  of  the  insects  ceased. 
Presently  the  edge  of  the  sun  that  had  been  first  ob- 
scured reappeared,  and  then  N'ature  went  through 
the  phenomenon  of  an  accelerated  dawn.  Without 
awaiting  a  full  return  of  light,  the  travellers  pro- 
ceeded on  their  way,  and  had  gone  something  over  a 
hundred  yards  when  Ayrault,  who  was  march- 
ing second,  suddenly  grasped  Bearwarden,  who  was 
in  front,  and  pointed  to  a  jet-black  mass  straight 
ahead,  and  about  thirty  yards  from  a  pool  of 
warm  water,  from  which  a  cloud  of  vapour  arose. 
The  top  of  the  head  was  about  seven  feet  high,  and 
the  length  of  the  body  exceeded  thirty  feet.  The  six 
legs  looked  as  strong  as  steel  cables,  and  were  about  a 
foot  through,  while  a  huge,  bony  proboscis  nine  feet 
in  length  preceded  the  body.^  This  was  carried  hori- 
zontally between  two  and  three  feet  from  the  ground. 
Presently  a  large  ground  sloth  came  to  the  pool  to 
drink,  lapping  up  the  water  at  the  sides  that  had 
partly   cooled.      In   an   instant    the  black    armored 


214 


A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 


monster  rushed  down  the  slope  with  the  speed  of  a 
nineteenth-century  locomotive,  and  seemed  about  as 
formidable.  The  sloth  turned  in  the  direction  of 
the  sound,  and  for  a  moment  seemed  paralyzed  with 
fear ;  it  then  started  to  run,  but  it  was  too  late,  for 
the  next  second  the  enormously  exaggerated  ant — 
for  such  it  was— overtook  it.  The  huge  mandible 
shears  that  when  closed  had  formed  the  proboscis, 
snapped  viciously,  taking  off  the  sloth's  legs  and 
then  cutting  its  body  to  slivers.  The  execution  was 
finished  in  a  few  seconds,  and  the  ponderous  insect 
carried  back  about  half  the  sloth  to  its  hiding-place, 
where  it  leisurely  devoured  it. 

''This  reminds  me,"  said  Bearwarden,  "of  the 
old  lady  who  never  completed  her  preparations  for 
turning  in  without  searching  for  burglars  under 
the  bed.  Finally  she  found  one,  and  exclaimed 
in  delight,  'I've  been  looking  for  you  fifty 
years,  and  at  last  you  are  here ! '  The  question 
is,  now  that  we  have  found  our  burglar,  what  shall 
we  do  with  him  ? " 

"  I  constantly  regret  not  having  a  rifle,"  replied 
Cortlandt,  "  though  it  is  doubtful  if  even  that  would 
lielp  us  here." 


THE  HONEY  OF  DEATH.  215 

"  Let  us  sit  down  and  wait,"  said  Ayrault ;  "  there 
may  be  an  opening  soon." 

Anon  a  woolly  rhinoceros,  resembling  the  Rhino- 
ceros tichorhinus  that  existed  contemporaneously  on 
earth  with  the  mammoth,  came  to  drink  the  water 
that  had  partly  cooled.  It  was  itself  a  formidable- 
looking  beast,  but  in  an  instant  the  monster  again 
rushed  from  concealment  with  the  same  tremen- 
dous speed.  The  rhinoceros  turned  in  the  direction 
of  the  sound,  and,  lowering  its  head,  faced  the  foe. 
The  ant's  shears,  however,  passed  beneath  the  horn, 
and,  fastening  upon  the  left  foreleg,  cut  it  off  w^ith  a 
loud  snap. 

"  ^ow  is  our  chance,"  exclaimed  Cortlandt ;  "  we 
may  kill  the  brute  before  he  is  through  with  the 
rhinoceros." 

"  Stop  a  bit,  doctor,"  said  Bearwarden,  ^'  lYe 
have  a  good  record  so  far ;  let  us  keep  up  our  reputa- 
tion for  being  sports.     Wait  till  he  can  attend  to  us." 

The  encounter  was  over  in  less  than  a  minute, 
three  of  the  rhinoceros's  legs  being  taken  off,  and  the 
liead  almost  severed  from  the  body.  Taking  up  the 
legs  in  its  mandibles,  the  murderous  creature  was  re- 
turning to  its  lair,  when,  with  the  cry  of  ''  Now  for 


210  A  JOURNEY   IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

the  fray  !  "  Bearwarden  aimed  beneath  the  body  and 
blew  off  one  of  the  farther  armoured  legs,  from  the 
inside.  "  Shoot  off  the  legs  on  the  same  side,"  he 
counselled  Ayrault,  while  he  himself  kept  up  a 
rapid  fire.  Cortlandt  tried  to  disconcert  the  enemy 
by  raining  duck-shot  on  its  scale-protected  eyes,  while 
the  two  rifles  tore  off  great  masses  of  the  horn  that 
covered  the  enormously  powerful  legs.  The  men 
separated  as  they  retreated,  knowing  that  one  slash 
of  the  great  shears  would  cut  their  three  bodies  in 
halves  if  they  were  caught  together.  The  monster 
had  dropped  the  remains  of  the  rhinoceros  when 
attacked,  and  made  for  the  hunters  at  its  top  speed, 
which  was  somewhat  reduced  by  the  loss  of  one  leg. 
Before  it  came  within  cutting  distance,  however, 
another  on  the  same  side  was  gone,  Ayrault  having 
landed  a  bullet  on  a  spot  already  stripped  of  armour. 
After  this  the  men  had  no  difficulty  in  keeping  out 
of  its  way,  though  it  still  moved  with  some  speed, 
snipping  off  young  trees  in  its  path  like  grass. 
Finally,  having  blown  the  scales  from  one  eye,  the 
travellers  sent  in  a  bullet  that  exploded  in  the  brain 
and  ended  its  career. 

"  This   has  been  by  all    odds  the  most  exciting 


THE  HONEY  OF   DEATH.  217 

hunt  we  have  had,"  said  Ayrault,  "  both  on  account 
of  the  determined  nature  and  great  speed  of  the 
attack,  and  the  ahiiost  impossibility  of  finding  a  vul- 
nerable spot." 

"  Anything  short  of  explosive  bullets,"  added 
Bearwarden,  "  would  have  been  powerless  against 
this  beast,  for  the  armour  in  many  places  is  nearly  a 
foot  thick." 

"  This  is  also  the  most  extraordinary  as  well  as 
most  dangerous  creature  with  which  we  have  had  to 
deal,"  said  Cortlandt,  because  it  is  an  enormously 
enlarged  insect,  with  all  the  inherent  ferocity  and 
strength.  It  is  almost  the  exact  counterpart  of  an 
African  soldier-ant  magnified  many  hundred  thou- 
sand times.  I  wonder,"  he  continued  thoughtfully, 
"if  our  latter-day  insects  may  not  be  the  deteriorated 
(in  point  of  size)  descendants  of  the  monsters  of 
mythology  and  geology,  for  nothing  could  be  a  more 
terrible  or  ferocious  antagonist  than  many  of  our  well- 
known  insects,  if  sufficiently  enlarged.  'No  animal 
now  alive  has  more  than  a  small  fraction  of  the 
strength,  in  proportion  to  its  size,  of  the  minutest 
spider  or  flea.  It  may  be  that  through  lack  of  food, 
difficulties  imposed  by  changing  climate,  and  the  ne- 


218  A  JOURNEY   IN   OTHER  WORLDS. 

cessitv  of  burrowing  in  winter,  or  tlirongli  some  other 
conditions  changed  from  what  they  were  accustomed 
to,  their  size  lias  been  reduced,  and  that  the  fire-flies, 
huge  as  they  seemed,  are  a  step  in  advance  of  this 
specimen  in  the  marcli  of  deterioration  or  involution, 
which  will  end  by  making  them  as  insignificant  as 
those  on  earth.  These  ants  have  probably  come  into 
the  woods  to  lay  their  eggs,  for,  from  the  behaviour 
of  the  animals  we  watched  from  the  turtle,  there 
must  have  been  several ;  or  perhaps  a  war  is  in 
progress  between  those  of  a  different  colour,  as  on 
earth,  in  which  case  the  woods  may  be  full  of  them. 
Doubtless  the  reason  the  turtle  seemed  so  uncon- 
cerned at  the  general  uneasiness  of  the  animals  was 
because  he  knew  he  could  make  himself  invulnerable 
to  the  marauder  by  simply  closing  his  shell,  and  we 
were  unmolested  because  it  did  not  occur  to  the  ant 
that  any  soft-shelled  creatures  could  be  on  the  turtle's 
back." 

"  I  think,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  it  will  be  the  part 
of  wisdom  to  return  to  the  Callisto,  and  do  the  rest 
of  our  exploring  on  Jupiter  from  a  safe  height ;  for, 
though  we  succeeded  in  disabling  this  beauty,  it  was 
largely  through   luck,  and  had  we  not  done  so  we 


THE  HONEY   OF   DEATH.  219 

should  probably  have  provided  a  hon  louche  for  our 
deceased  friend,  instead  of  standing  at  his  grave." 

Accordingly  they  proceeded,  and  were  delighted, 
a  few  minutes  later,  to  see  the  sunlight  reflected  from 
the  projectile's  polished  roof. 


15 


CHAPTER  X. 


CHANGING    LANDSCAPES. 


On  reaching  the  Callisto,  Ayrault  worked  the  lock 
he  had  had  placed  on  the  lower  door,  which,  to  avoid 
carrying  a  key,  was  opened  by  a  combination.  The 
car's  interior  was  exactly  as  they  had  left  it,  and  they 
were  glad  to  be  in  it  again. 

"  IN'ow,"  said  Bear  warden,  "  we  can  have  a  sound 
and  undisturbed  sleep,  which  is  what  I  want  more 
than  anything  else.  No  prowlers  can  trouble  us 
here,  and  we  shall  not  need  the  protection-wires." 

They  then  opened  a  window  in  each  side — for  the 
large  glass  plates,  admitting  the  sun  when  closed, 
made  the  Callisto  rather  warm — and  placed  a  stout 
wire  netting  within  them  to  keep  out  birds  and  bats, 
and  then,  though  it  was  but  little  past  noon,  got  into 
their  comfortable  beds  and  slept  nine  hours  at  a 
stretcli.     Tlieir  strong  metal  house  was  securely  at 

(220) 


CHANGING  LANDSCAPES.  221 

rest,  receiving  the  sunlight  and  shedding  the  rain 
and  dew  as  it  might  have  done  on  earth.  No  winds 
or  storms,  hghtnings  or  floods,  could  trouble  it,  while 
the  multiformed  monsters  of  antiquity  and  mythology 
restored  in  life,  with  which  the  terrestrials  had  been 
thrown  into  such  close  contact,  roamed  about  its  pol- 
ished walls.  Is'ot  even  the  fiercest  could  affect  them, 
and  they  would  but  see  themselves  reflected  in  any 
vain  assaults.  The  domed  symmetrical  cylinder  stood 
there  as  a  monument  to  human  ingenuity  and  skill, 
and  the  travellers'  last  thought  as  they  fell  asleep 
was,  ''  Man  is  really  lord  of  creation." 

The  following  day  at  about  noon  they  awoke,  and 
had  a  bath  in  the  warm  pool.  They  saw  the  ar- 
moured mass  of  the  great  ant  evidently  undisturbed, 
while  the  bodies  of  its  victims  were  already  shining 
skeletons,  and  raised  a  small  cairn  of  stones  in  mem- 
ory of  the  struggle  they  had  had  there. 

"We  should  name  this  place  Kentucky,"  said 
Bearwarden,  "for  it  is  indeed  a  dark  and  bloody 
ground,"  and,  seeing  the  aptness  of  the  appellation, 
they  entered  it  so  on  their  charts.  While  Ayrault 
got  the  batteries  in  shape  for  resuming  work,  Bear- 
warden  prepared  a  substantial  breakfast.     This  con- 


222  A  JOURNEY  IN   OTnER  WORLDS. 

sisted  of  oatmeal  and  cream  ke])t  hermetically  sealed 
in  glass,  a  dish  of  roast  grouse,  coffee,  pilot  bread,  a 
bottle  of  Sauterne,  and  another  of  Rhine  wine. 

''  This  is  the  last  meal  we  shall  take  here- 
abouts," said  their  cook,  as  they  plied  their  knives 
and  forks  beneath  the  trees,  "  so  here  is  a  toast 
to  our  adventures,  and  to  all  the  game  we  have 
killed."  They  drained  their  glasses  in  drinking 
this,  after  which  Bearwarden  regaled  them  with 
the  latest  concert-hall  song,  which  he  had  at  his 
tongue's  end. 

About  an  hour  before  dark  they  re-entered  their 
projectile,  and,  as  a  mark  of  respect  to  their  little 
ship,  named  the  great  branch  of  the  continent  on 
which  they  had  alighted  Callisto  Point.  They  then 
got  under  way.  The  batteries  had  to  develop  almost 
their  maximum  power  to  overcome  Jupiter's  attrac- 
tion ;  but  they  were  equal  to  the  task,  and  the  Callisto 
was  soon  in  the  air.  Directing  their  apergy  to  the 
mountains  towards  the  interior  of  the  continent,  and 
applying  repulsion  to  any  ridge  or  hill  over  whicli 
they  passed,  thereby  easing  the  work  of  the  batteries 
engaged  in  supporting  the  Callisto,  they  were  soon 
sweeping  along  at  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  miles 


CHANGING  LANDSCAPES.  223 

an  hour.  By  keeping  the  projectile  just  strongly 
enough  charged  to  neutralize  gravitation,  they  re- 
mained for  the  most  part  within  two  hundred  feet  of 
the  ground,  seldom  rising  to  an  altitude  of  more  than 
a  mile,  and  were  therefore  able  to  keep  the  windows 
at  the  sides  open  and  so  obtain  an  unobstructed  view. 
If,  however,  at  any  time  they  felt  oppressed  by  Jupi- 
ter's high  barometric  pressure,  and  preferred  the 
terrestrial  conditions,  they  had  but  to  rise  till  the 
barometer  fell  to  thirty.  Then,  if  an  object  of  in- 
terest recalled  them  to  sea-level,  they  could  keep  the 
Callisto's  inside  pressure  at  what  they  found  on  the 
Jovian  mountains,  by  screwing  up  the  windows.  On 
account  of  the  distance  of  sixty-four  thousand  miles 
from  Jupiter's  equator  to  the  pole,  they  calculated 
that  going  at  the  speed  of  a  hundred  miles  an  hour, 
night  and  day,  it  would  take  them  twenty-five  terres- 
trial days  to  reach  the  pole  even  from  latitude  two 
degrees  at  which  they  started.  But  they  knew  that, 
if  pressed  for  time,  they  could  rise  above  the  limits 
of  the  atmosphere,  and  move  with  planetary  speed  ; 
while,  if  they  wished  a  still  easier  method  of  pursuing 
their  observation,  they  had  but  to  remain  poised  be- 
tween the  sun  and  Jupiter,  beyond  the  latter's  upper 


2-24:  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 

air,  and  photograph  or  map  it  as  it  revolved  before 
them. 

Bj  sunset  they  had  gone  a  hundred  miles.  Wish- 
ing to  push  along,  they  closed  the  windows,  rose 
higher  to  avoid  any  mountain-tops  that  might  be 
invisible  in  the  moonlight,  and  increased  their  speed. 
The  air  made  a  gentle  humming  sound  as  they  shot 
through  it,  and  towards  morning  they  saw  several 
bright  points  of  light  in  which  they  recognized,  by 
the  aid  of  their  glasses,  sheets  of  flame  and  torrents 
of  molten  glowing  lava,  bursting  at  intervals  or  pour- 
ing steadily  from  several  volcanoes.  From  this  they 
concluded  they  were  again  near  an  ocean,  since  vol- 
canoes need  the  presence  of  a  large  body  of  water  to 
provide  steam  for  their  eruptions. 

With  the  rising  sun  they  found  the  scene  of  the 
day  before  entirely  changed.  They  were  over  the 
shore  of  a  vast  ocean  that  extended  to  the  left  as  far 
as  they  could  see,  for  the  range  of  vision  often  ex- 
ceeded the  power  of  sight.  The  coast-line  ran  almost 
due  north  and  south,  while  the  volcanoes  that  dotted 
it,  and  that  had  been  luminous  during  the  night,  now 
revealed  their  nature  only  by  lines  of  smoke  and 
vapour.     They  were  struck  l>y  the  boldness  and   ab- 


CHANGING  LANDSCAPES.  225 

ruptness  of  the  scenery.  The  mountains  and  cliffs 
had  been  but  little  cut  down  by  water  and  frost 
action,  and  seemed  in  the  full  vigour  of  their  youth, 
which  was  what  the  travellers  had  a  right  to  expect 
on  a  globe  that  was  still  cooling  and  shrinking,  and 
consequently  throwing  up  ridges  in  the  shape  of 
mountains  far  more  rapidly  than  a  planet  as  matured 
and  quiescent  as  the  earth.  The  absence  of  lakes 
also  showed  them  that  there  had  been  no  Glacial 
period,  in  the  latitudes  they  were  crossing,  for  a  very 
long  time. 

"We  can  account  for  the  absence  of  ice-action 
and  scratches,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  in  one  of  two  ways. 
Either  the  proximity  of  the  internal  heat  to  the  sur- 
face prevents  water  from  freezing  in  all  latitudes,  or 
Jupiter's  axis  has  always  been  very  nearly  perpen- 
dicular to  its  orbit,  and  consequently  the  thermome- 
ter has  never  been  much  below  thirty-two  degrees 
Fahrenheit ;  for,  at  the  considerable  distance  we  are 
now  from  the  sun,  it  is  easy  to  conceive  that,  with  the 
axis  much  inclined,  there  might  be  cold  weather,  dur- 
ing the  Northern  hemisphere's  winter,  that  would  last 
for  about  six  of  our  years,  even  as  near  the  equator 
as  this.     The  substantiation  of  an  ice-cap  at  the  pole 


226  A  JOURNEY   IN   OTHER   WORLDS. 

will  disprove  the  first  hypothesis ;  for  what  we  took 
for  ice  before  alighting  may  have  been  but  banks  of 
cloud,  since,  having  been  in  the  plane  of  the  planet's 
equator  at  the  time,  we  had  naturally  but  a  very 
oblique  s'iew  of  the  poles ;  while  the  absence  of  glacial 
scratches  shows,  I  take  it,  that  though  the  axis  may 
have  been  a  good  deal  more  inclined  than  at  present, 
it  has  not,  at  all  events  since  Jupiter's  Palaeozoic 
period,  been  as  much  so  as  that  of  Uranus  or  Yenus. 
The  land  on  Jupiter,  corresponding  to  the  Lauren- 
tian  Hills  on  earth,  must  even  here  have  appeared 
at  so  remote  a  period  that  the  first  surface  it  showed 
must  long  since  have  been  worn  away,  and  therefore 
any  impressions  it  received  have  also  been  erased. 

"  Comparing  this  land  with  the  photographs  we 
took  from  space,  I  should  say  it  is  the  eastern  of  the 
two  crescent-shaped  continents  we  found  apparently 
facing  each  other.  Their  present  form  I  take  to  be 
only  the  skeleton  outline  of  what  they  will  be  at  the 
next  period  of  Jupiters  development.  Tlicy  will, 
I  predict,  become  more  like  half  moons  than  cres- 
cents, though  tlie  profile  may  l)e  much  indented  by 
gulfs  and  bays,  their  superficial  area  being  greatly 
increased,  and  the  intervening  ocean  correspondingly 


CHANGING  LANDSCAPES.  227 

narrowed.  AYe  know  that  Korth  America  had  a  very 
different  shape  during  the  Cretaceous  or  even  the 
Middle  Tertiary  period  from  what  it  has  now,  and 
that  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  extended  up  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi  as  far  as  the  Ohio,  by  the  presence 
of  a  great  coral  reef  in  the  Ohio  River  near  Cincin- 
nati. AYe  know  also  that  Florida  and  the  South- 
eastern Atlantic  States  are  a  very  recent  addition  to 
the  continent,  while  the  pampas  of  the  Argentine 
Republic  have,  in  a  geological  sense,  but  just  been 
upheaved  from  the  sea,  by  the  fact  that  the  rivers 
are  all  on  the  surface,  not  having  had  time  to  cut 
down  their  channels  below  the  surrounding  country. 
By  similar  reasoning,  we  know  that  the  cailon  of  the 
Colorado  is  a  very  old  region,  though  the  precipitate- 
ness  of  its  banks  is  due  to  the  absence  of  rain,  for  a 
local  water-supply  would  cut  back  the  banks,  having 
most  effect  where  they  were  steepest,  since  at  those 
points  it  would  move  with  the  greatest  speed.  Thus 
the  majestic  canon  owes  its  existence  to  two  things : 
the  length  of  time  the  river  has  been  at  work,  and 
the  fact  that  the  water  flowing  through  it  comes  from 
another  region  where,  of  course,  there  is  rain,  and 
that  it  is  merely  in  transit,  and  so  affects  only  the 


228  -^^  JOURNEY   IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

bed  on  which  it  moves.  Granting  tliat  this  is  the  east- 
ern of  the  two  continents  we  observed,  it  evidently 
corresponds  more  in  shape  to  the  Eastern  liemi- 
sphere  on  earth  than  to  the  Xew  World,  both  of 
which  are  set  facing  one  another,  since  both  drain 
towards  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  But  the  analogy  here 
liolds  also,  for  the  past  outlines  of  the  Eastern  hemi- 
sphere differed  radically  from  what  they  are  now.  The 
Mediterranean  Sea  was  formerly  of  far  greater  extent 
than  we  see  it  to-day,  and  covered  nearly  the  whole 
of  northern  Africa  and  the  old  upheaved  sea-bottom 
that  we  see  in  the  Desert  of  Sahara.  Much  of  this 
great  desert,  as  we  know,  has  a  considerable  elevation, 
though  part  of  it  is  still  below  the  level  of  the  Medi- 
terranean. 

"  Perhaps  a  more  striking  proof  of  this  than  are 
the  remains  of  fishes  and  marine  life  that  are  found 
there,  is  the  dearth  of  natural  harbours  and  indenta- 
tions in  Africa's  northern  coast,  while  just  opposite, 
in  southern  Europe,  there  are  any  number ;  which 
shows  that  not  enough  time  has  elapsed  since  Africa's 
upheaval  for  liquid  or  congealed  water  to  produce 
them.  Many  of  Europe's  best  harbours,  and  Bos- 
ton's, in   our  country,  have  been    dug  out  by  slow 


CHANGING  LANDSCAPES.  229 

ice-action  in  the  oft-recurring  Glacial  periods.  The 
Black  and  Caspian  Seas  were  larger  than  we  now 
find  them ;  while  the  Adriatic  extended  much 
farther  into  the  continent,  covering  most  of  the 
country  now  in  the  valley  of  the  Po.  In  Europe  the 
land  has,  of  course,  risen  also,  but  so  slowly  that  the 
rivers  have  been  able  to  keep  their  channels  cut 
down  ;  proof  of  their  ability  to  perform  which  feat 
we  see  when  an  ancient  river  passes  through  a  ridge 
of  hills  or  mountains.  The  river  had  doubtless  been 
there  long  before  the  mountains  began  to  rise,  but 
their  elevation  was  so  gradual  that  the  rate  of  the 
river's  cutting  down  equalled  or  exceeded  their  com- 
ing up ;  proof  of  which  we  have  in  the  patent  fact 
that  the  ancient  river's  course  remains  unchanged, 
and  is  at  right  angles  to  the  mountain  chain.  From 
all  of  which  we  see  that  the  Eastern  hemisphere's 
crescent  hollow— of  which,  I  take  it,  the  Mediterra- 
nean, Black,  and  Caspian  Sea  depressions  are  the  re- 
mains— has  been  gradually  filled  in,  by  the  elevation 
of  the  sea's  bottom,  and  the  extension  of  deltas  from 
the  detrital  matter  brought  from  the  high  interior 
of  the  continents  by  the  rivers,  or  by  the  combined 
action  of  the  two.     ISTow,  since  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 


230  A  JOURXF.Y  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

lias  been  constant!}^  growing  smaller,  and  the  "Medi- 
terranean is  being  invaded  by  the  land,  I  reason  that 
similar  causes  will  produce  like  effects  here,  and  give 
to  each  continent  an  area  far  greater  than  our  entire 
globe.  The  stormy  ocean  we  behold  in  the  west, 
which  corresponds  to  our  Atlantic,  though  it  is  far 
more  of  a  mare  clausum  in  the  geographical  sense, 
is  also  destined  to  become  a  calm  and  placid  inland 
sea.  There  are,  of  course,  modifications  of  and 
checks  to  the  laws  tending  to  increase  the  land  area. 
England  was  formerly  joined  to  the  continent,  the 
land  connecting  the  two  having  been  rather  washed 
away  by  the  waves  and  great  tides  than  by  any  sink- 
ing of  the  English  Channel's  bottom,  the  whole  of 
which  is  comparatively  shallow.  Another  case  of 
this  kind  is  seen  in  Cape  Cod  and  the  islands  of 
Martha's  Vineyard  and  Xantucket,  all  of  which  are 
washing  away  so  rapidly  that  they  would  probably 
disappear  before  the  next  Glacial  period,  were  we 
not  engaged  in  preventing  its  recyrrence.  These 
detached  islands  and  sand-bars  once  formed  one  large 
island,  which  at  a  still  earlier  time  undoubtedly  was 
joined  to  the  mainland.  The  sands  forming  the  de- 
tached  masses   are   in   a   great    processional   march 


CHANGING  LANDSCAPES.  231 

towards  the  equator,  but  it  is  the  result  simply  of 
winds  and  waves,  there  being  no  indication  of  sub- 
sidence. Along  the  coast  of  Kew  Jersey  we  see 
denudation  and  sinking  going  on  together,  the  well- 
known  sunken  forest  being  an  instance  of  the  latter. 
The  border  of  the  continent  proper  also  extends 
many  miles  under  the.  ocean  before  reaching  the 
edge  of  the  Atlantic  basin.  Volcanic  eruptions 
sometimes  demolish  parts  of  headlands  and  islands, 
though  these  recompense  us  in  the  amount  of  ma- 
terial brought  to  the  surface,  and  in  the  increased 
distance  they  enable  water  to  penetrate  by  relieving 
the  interior  of  part  of  its  heat,  for  any  land  they  may 
destroy." 


CHAPTER  XL 


A   JOVIAN    NIAGARA. 


Four  days  later,  after  crossing  a  ridge  of  moun- 
tains that  the  pressure  on  the  aneroid  barometer 
showed  to  be  about  thirty-two  thousand  feet  hig^h, 
and  a  stretch  of  flat  country  a  few  miles  in  width, 
they  came  to  a  great  arm  of  the  sea.  It  was  about 
thirty  miles  wide  at  its  mouth,  which  was  narrowed 
like  the  neck  of  a  bottle,  and  farther  inland  was  over 
one  hundred  miles  across,  and  though  their  glasses, 
the  clear  air,  and  the  planet's  size  enabled  them  to 
see  nearly  five  hundred  miles,  they  could  not  find  its 
end.  In  the  shallow  water  along  its  shores,  and  on 
the  islands  rising  but  a  few  feet  above  the  waves, 
they  saw  all  kinds  of  amphibians  and  sea-monsters, 
^fany  of  these  were  almost  the  exact  reproduction  in 
life  of  the  giant  plesiosaurs,  dinosaurs,  and  elasmo- 
saurs,  whose  remains  are  preserved  in  the  museums 

(232) 


A  JOVIAN  NIAGARA.  233 

on  earth.  The  reptilian  bodies  of  the  elasmosaurs, 
seventy-five  feet  in  length,  with  the  forked  tongues, 
distended  jaws  and  fangs  of  a  snake,  were  easily 
taken  for  the  often  described  but  probably  mythical 
sea-serpent,  as  partially  coiled  they  occasionally  raised 
their  heads  twelve  or  fifteen  feet. 

"Man  in  his  natural  state,"  said  Cortlandt, 
"would  have  but  small  chance  of  surviving  long 
among  such  neighbours.  Buckland,  I  think,  once  in- 
dulged in  the  jeu  d'esjyrit  of  supposing  an  ichthyo- 
saur  lecturing  on  the  human  skull.  '  You  will  at  once 
perceive,'  said  the  lecturer,  '  that  the  skull  before  us 
belonged  to  one  of  the  lower  order  of  animals.  The 
teeth  are  very  insignificant,  the  power  of  the  jaws 
triflins:,  and  altoo:ether  it  seems  wonderful  how  the 
creature  could  have  procured  food.'  Armed  with 
modern  weapons,  and  in  this  machine,  we  are,  of 
course,  superior  to  the  most  powerful  monster  ;  but 
it  is  not  likely  that,  had  man  been  so  surrounded 
during  the  whole  of  his  evolution,  he  could  have 
reached  his  present  plane." 

IS'otwithstanding  the  striking  similarity  of  these 
creatures  to  their  terrestrial  counterparts  that  ex- 
isted on  earth  during  its  corresponding  period,  there 


234  A  JOURXEY   IN   OTHER   WORLDS. 

were  some  interesting  modiiications.  The  organs  of 
locomotion  in  the  amphibians  were  more  developed, 
while  the  eyes  of  all  were  larger,  the  former  being 
of  course  necessitated  by  the  power  of  gravity,  and 
the  latter  by  the  greater  distance  from  the  sun. 

'•  The  adaptability  and  economy  of  Nature,"  said 
Cortlandt,  "have  always  amazed  me.  In  the  total 
blackness  of  the  Kentucky  Mammoth  Cave,  where 
eyes  would  be  of  no  use  to  the  fishes,  our  common 
nj other  has  given  them  none ;  while  if  there  is  any 
light,  though  not  as  much  as  we  are  accustomed  to, 
she  may  be  depended  upon  to  rise  to  the  occasion 
by  increasing  the  size  of  the  pupil  and  the  power 
of  the  eye.  In  tlie  development  of  the  ambulatory 
muscles  we  again  see  her  handiwork,  probably 
brought  about  through  the  '  survival  of  the  fittest.' 
The  fishes  and  those  wholly  immersed  need  no  in- 
crease in  power,  for,  though  they  weigh  more  than 
they  would  on  earth,  the  weight  of  the  water  they 
displace  is  increased  at  the  same  rate  also,  and  their 
buoyancy  remains  unchanged.  If  the  development 
of  life  here  so  closely  follows  its  lines  on  earth,  with 
the  exception  of  comparatively  slight  modifications, 
which    are  exactly  what,  had  we   stopped    to  think, 


A  JOVIAN  NIAGARA.  235 

we  should  have  expected  to  find,  may  we  not  rea- 
sonably ask  wlietlier  she  will  not  continue  on  these 
lines,  and  in  time  produce  beings  like  ourselves,  but 
with  more  powerful  muscles  and  eyes  capable  of 
seeing  clearly  with  less  light?  Keasoning  by  anal- 
ogy, we  can  come  to  no  other  conclusion,  unless 
their  advent  is  anticipated  by  the  arrival  of  ready- 
made  colonists  from  the  more  advanced  earth,  like 
ourselves.  In  that  case  man,  by  pursuing  the  same 
destructive  methods  that  he  has  pursued  in  regard 
to  many  other  species,  may  exterminate  the  inter- 
vening links,  and  so  arrest  evolution." 

Before  leaving  Deepwaters  Bay  they  secured  a 
pail  of  its  water,  which  they  found,  on  examination, 
contained  a  far  larger  percentage  of  salt  and  solid 
material  than  the  oceans  on  earth,  while  a  thermom- 
eter that  they  immediately  immersed  in  it  soon 
registered  eighty-five  degrees  Fahrenheit;  both  of 
which  discoveries  confirmed  them  in  what  they 
already  knew,  namely,  that  Jupiter  had  advanced 
comparatively  little  from  the  condition  in  which  the 
water  on  the  surface  is  hot,  in  which  state  the  earth 
once  was. 

They  were    soon    beyond   the    estuary  at   which 
16 


236  A  JOURNEY   IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 

tliej  had  stopped  to  study  the  forms  of  life  and 
to  make  this  test,  and  kept  on  due  north  for  sev- 
eral days,  occasionally  rising  above  the  air.  As  their 
famiharity  with  their  surroundings  increased,  they 
made  notes  of  several  things.  The  mountains  cov- 
ered far  more  territory  at  their  bases  than  the  terres- 
trial mountains,  and  they  were  in  places  very  rugged 
and  showed  vast  yawning  chasms.  They  were  also 
wooded  farther  up  their  sides,  and  bore  but  little 
snow ;  but  so  far  the  travellers  had  not  found  them 
much  higher  than  those  on  earth,  the  greatest  altitude 
being  the  thirty-two  thousand  feet  south  of  Deep- 
waters  Bay,  and  one  other  ridge  that  was  forty  thou- 
sand ;  so  that,  compared  with  the  size  of  the  planet 
and  its  continents,  they  seemed  quite  small,  and  the 
continents  themselves  were  comparatively  level. 
They  also  noted  that  spray  was  blown  in  vast  sheets, 
till  the  ocean  for  miles  was  white  as  milk.  The  wind 
often  attained  tornado  strength,  and  the  whole  sur- 
face of  the  water,  about  what  seemed  to  be  the  storm 
centre,  frequently  moved  with  rapidity  in  the  form  of 
foam.  Yet,  notwithstanding  this,  the  waves  were 
never  as  large  as  those  to  which  they  were  accustomed 
on  earth.     This  they  accounted  for  very  easily  by  the 


A  JOVIAN  NIAGARA.  237 

fact  that,  while  water  weighed  2'55  times  as  much  as 
on  earth,  the  pressure  of  air  was  but  httle  more  tlian 
half  as  much  again,  and  consequently  its  effect  on 
all  but  the  very  surface  of  the  heavy  liquid  was 
comparatively  slight. 

"  Gravity  is  a  useful  factor  here,"  observed  Cort- 
landt,  as  they  made  a  note  of  this  ;  "  for,  in  addition 
to  giving  immunity  from  waves,  it  is  most  effective 
in  checking  the  elevation  of  high  mountains  or  table- 
lands in  the  high  latitudes,  which  we  shall  doubtless 
find  sufficiently  cool,  or  even  cold,  while  in  tropical 
regions,  which  might  otherwise  be  too  hot,  it  inter- 
feres with  them  least,  on  account  of  being  partly  neu- 
tralized by  the  rapid  rotation  with  which  all  four  of 
the  major  planets  are  blessed." 

At  sunrise  the  following  morning  they  saw  they 
were  approaching  another  great  arm  of  the  sea.  It 
was  over  a  thousand  miles  wide  at  its  mouth,  and, 
had  not  the  photographs  showed  the  contrary,  they 
would  have  thought  the  Callisto  had  reached  the 
northern  end  of  the  continent.  It  extended  into  the 
land  fifteen  thousand  miles,  and,  on  account  of  the 
shape  of  its  mouth,  they  called  it  Funnel  Bay.  Kis- 
ing  to  a  height,  they  flew  across,  and  came  to  a  great 


A  JOURNEY  IN   OTHER  WORLDS. 

table-land  peninsula,  with  a  chain  of  mountains  on 
either  side.  The  southern  rano^e  was  somethingr  over, 
and  the  northern  something  less  than,  five  thousand 
feet  in  height,  while  the  table-land  between  sloped 
almost  imperceptibly  towards  the  middle,  in  which,  as 
they  expected,  they  found  a  river  compared  to  which 
the  Mississippi  or  the  Amazon  would  be  but  a  brook. 
In  honour  of  the  President  of  the  Terrestrial  Axis 
Straightening  Company,  they  called  this  great  pro- 
jection, which  averaged  about  four  thousand  miles 
across  by  twelve  thousand  miles  long,  Bearwarden 
Peninsula.  They  already  noticed  a  change  in  cli- 
mate ;  the  ferns  and  palms  became  fewer,  and  were 
succeeded  by  pines,  while  the  air  was  also  a  good  deal 
cooler,  which  was  easily  accounted  for  by  their  alti- 
tude— though  even  at  that  height  it  was  considerably 
denser  than  at  sea-level  on  earth — and  by  the  fact 
that  they  were  already  near  latitude  thirty: 

The  exposed  points  on  the  plateau,  as  also  the 
summits  of  the  first  mountains  they  had  seen  before 
alighting,  were  devoid  of  vegetation,  scarcely  so  much 
as  a  blade  of  grass  being  visible.  Since  they  could 
not  account  for  this  by  cold,  they  concluded  that  the 
most  probable  explanation  lay  in  the  tremendous  hur- 


A  JOVIAN  NIAGARA.  239 

ricanes  that,  produced  by  the  planet's  rapid  rotation, 
frequently  swept  along  its  surface,  like  the  earth's 
trade-winds,  but  with  far  more  violence. 

On  reaching  the  northern  coast  of  the  peninsula 
they  increased  their  elevation  and  changed  their 
course  to  northeast,  not  caring  to  remain  long  over 
the  great  body  of  water,  which  they  named  Cortlandt 
Bay.  The  thousands  of  miles  of  foam  fast  flew  be- 
neath them,  the  first  thing  attracting  their  attention 
beins:  a  change  in  the  ocean's  colour.  In  the  eastern 
shore  of  Cortlandt  Bay  they  soon  observed  the  mouth 
of  a  river,  ten  miles  across,  from  w^iich  this  tinted 
water  issued  in  a  flood.  On  account  of  its  colour, 
which  reminded  them  of  a  stream  they  knew  so  well, 
they  christened  it  the  Harlem. 

Believing  that  an  expedition  up  its  valley  might 
reveal  something  of  interest,  they  began  the  ascent, 
remaining  at  an  elevation  of  a  few  hundred  feet. 
For  about  three  hundred  miles  they  followed  this 
river,  which  had  but  few  bends,  while  its  sides  be- 
came more  and  more  precipitous,  till  it  flowed  through 
a  canon  four  and  a  half  miles  across.  Though  they 
knew  from  the  wide  discoloration  of  Cortlandt  Bay 
that  the  volume  of  water  discharged  was  tremendous, 


240  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

the  stream  seldom  moved  at  a  rate  of  more  than  five 
miles  an  hour,  and  for  a  time  was  free  from  rocks 
and  rapids,  from  Avhicli  tliej  concluded  that  it  must 
be  very  deep.  Half  an  hour  later  they  saw  a  cloud 
of  steam  or  mist,  which  expanded,  and  almost  ob- 
scured the  sky  as  they  approached.  Next  they  heard 
a  sound  like  distant  thunder,  which  they  took  for  the 
prolonged  eruption  of  some  giant  crater,  though  they 
had  not  expected  to  find  one  so  far  towards  the  in- 
terior of  the  continent.  Presently  it  became  one  con- 
tinuous roar,  the  echo  in  the  canon,  whose  walls  were 
at  this  place  over  six  hundred-  feet  high,  being  simply 
deafening,  so  that  the  near  discharge  of  the  heaviest 
artillery  would  have  been  completely  drowned. 

"  One  would  think  the  end  of  the  world  was  ap- 
proaching !  "  shouted  Cortlandt  through  his  hands. 

"  Look  !  "  Bearwarden  roared  back,  "  the  wind  is 
scattering  the  mist." 

As  he  spoke,  the  vapoury  curtain  was  drawn  aside, 
revealing  a  waterfall  of  such  vast  proportions  as  to 
dwarf  completely  anything  they  had  ever  seen  or 
even  imagined.  A  somewhat  open  horseslioe  lip, 
three  and  a  half  miles  straight  across  and  over  four 
miles  following  the  line  of  the  curve,  discharged  a 


A  JOVIAN  NIAGARA.  241 

sheet  of  water  forty  feet  thick  at  the  edge  into  an 
abyss  six  hundred  feet  below.  Two  islands  on  the 
brink  divided  this  sheet  of  liquid  into  three  nearly 
equal  parts,  while  myriads  of  rainbows  hovered  in  the 
clouds  of  spray.  Two  things  especially  struck  the 
observers  :  the  water  made  but  little  curve  or  sweep 
on  passing  over  the  edge,  and  then  rushed  down  to 
the  abyss  at  almost  lightning  speed,  shivering  itself 
to  infinitesimal  particles  on  striking  any  rock  or  pro- 
jection at  the  side.  Its  behaviour  was,  of  course,  due 
to  its  weight,  and  to  the  fact  that  on  Jupiter  bodies 
fall  40*98  feet  the  first  second,  instead  of  sixteen  feet, 
as  on  earth,  and  at  correspondingly  increasing  speed. 
Finding  that  they  were  being  rapidly  dazed  and 
stunned  by  the  noise,  the  travellers  caused  the  Cal- 
listo  to  rise  rapidly,  and  were  soon  surveying  the 
superb  sight  from  a  considerable  elevation.  Their 
minds  could  grasp  but  slowly  the  full  meaning  and 
titanic  power  of  what  they  saw,  and  not  even  the  vast 
falls  in  their  nearness  could  make  their  significance 
clear.  Here  was  a  sheet  of  water  three  and  a  half 
miles  wide,  averaging  forty  feet  in  depth,  moving  at  a 
rapid  rate  towards  a  sheer  fall  of  six  hundred  feet. 
They  felt,  as  they  gazed  at  it,  that  the  power  of  that 


242  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

waterfall  would  turn  backward  every  engine  and 
dynamo  on  the  eartli,  and  it  seemed  as  if  it  might 
almost  put  out  the  fires  of  the  sun.  Yet  it  was  but  an 
illustration  of  the  action  of  the  solar  orb  exerted  on 
a  vast  area  of  ocean,  the  vapour  in  the  form  of  rain 
being  afterwards  turned  into  these  comparatively 
narrow  limits  by  the  topography  of  the  continent. 
Compared  with  this,  Kiagara,  with  its  descent  of 
less  than  two  hundred  feet,  and  its  relatively  small 
flow  of  water,  would  be  but  a  rivulet,  or  at  best  a 
rapid  stream. 

Reluctantly  leaving  the  fascinating  spectacle,  they 
pursued  their  exploration  along  the  river  above  the 
falls.  For  the  first  few  miles  the  surface  of  the  water 
was  near  that  of  the  land ;  there  were  occasional 
rapids,  but  few  rocks,  and  the  foaming  torrent  moved 
at  great  speed,  the  red  sandstone  banks  of  the  river 
being  as  polished  as  though  they  had  been  waxed. 
After  a  while  the  obstructions  disappeared,  but  the 
water  continued  to  rush  and  surge  along  at  a  speed 
of  ten  or  twelve  miles  an  hour,  so  that  it  would  be 
easily  navigable  only  for  logs  or  objects  moving  in 
one  direction.  The  surface  of  the  river  was  soon  on 
an  average  fifty  feet  below  the  edge  of  the  banks, 


A  JOVIAN  NIAGARA.  243 

this  depression  being  one  result  of  the  water's  rapid 
motion  and  weight,  which  facihtated  the  carving  of 
its  channel. 

When  they  had  followed  up  the  river  about  sixty 
miles  towards  its  source  they  came  upon  what  at 
first  had  the  appearance  of  an  ocean.  They  knew, 
however,  from  its  elevation,  and  the  flood  coming 
from  it,  that  the  water  must  be  fresh,  as  they  soon 
found  it  was.  This  lake  was  about  three  hundred 
miles  wide,  and  stretched  from  northeast  to  south- 
west. There  was  rolling  land  with  hills  about  its 
shores,  and  the  foliage  on  the  banks  was  a  beauti- 
ful shade  of  bluish  purple  instead  of  the  terrestrial 
ubiquitous  green. 

When  near  the  great  lake's  upper  end,  they 
passed  the  mouth  of  a  river  on  their  left  side,  which, 
from  its  volume,  they  concluded  must  be  the  princi- 
pal source,  and  therefore  they  determined  to  trace  it. 
They  found  it  to  be  a  most  beautiful  stream,  aver- 
aging two  and  a  half  miles  in  width,  evidently  very 
deep,  and  with  a  full,  steady  current.  After  proceed- 
ing for  several  hours,  they  found  that  the  general 
placidity  grew  less,  the  smooth  surface  occasionally 
became  ruffied  by  projecting  rocks  and  rapids,  and 


244  A  JOTRXEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

the  banks  rose  till  the  voyagers  again  fonnd  them- 
selves in  a  ravine  or  canon. 

During  their  sojourn  on  Jupiter  they  had  had 
but  little  experience  with  the  tremendous  winds  that 
they  knew,  from  reason  and  observation,  must  rage 
in  its  atmosphere.  They  now  heard  them  whistling 
over  their  heads,  and,  notwithstanding  the  protection 
afforded  by  the  sides  of  the  canon,  occasionally  re- 
ceived a  gust  that  made  the  Callisto  swerve.  They 
kept  on  steadily,  however,  till  sunset,  at  which  time 
it  became  very  dark  on  account  of  the  high  banks, 
which  rose  as  steeply  as  the  Palisades  on  the  Hudson 
to  a  height  of  nearly  a  thousand  feet.  Finding  a 
small  island  near  the  eastern  bank,  they  were  glad  to 
secure  the  Callisto  there  for  the  night,  below  the 
reach  of  the  winds,  which  they  still  heard  singing 
loudly  but  with  a  musical  note  in  what  seemed  to 
them  like  the  sky. 

"  It  is  incomprehensible  to  me,"  said  Ayrault,  as 
they  sat  at  dinner,  "  how  the  sun,  at  a  distance  of 
four  hundred  and  eighty-three  million  miles,  can 
raise  the  amount  of  water  we  have  here  passing  us, 
and  compared  with  which  the  discharge  of  the  great- 
est river  on  earth  would  be  insignificant,  to  say  noth- 


A  JOVIAN  NIAGARA.  245 

ing  of  the  stream  we  ascended  before  reaching 
this." 

"  We  must  remember,"  replied  Cortlandt,  "  that 
many  of  the  conditions  are  different  here  from  those 
that  exist  on  earth.  We  know  that  some  of  the 
streams  are  warm,  and  even  hot,  and  that  tlie  tem- 
perature of  Deepwaters  Bay,  and  doubtless  that  of 
the  ocean  also,  is  considerably  higher  than  ours.  This 
would  facilitate  evaporation.  The  density  of  the 
atmosphere  and  the  tremendous  winds,  of  which  I 
suspect  we  may  see  more  later,  must  also  help  the 
sun  very  much  in  its  work  of  raising  vapour.  But 
the  most  potent  factor  is  undoubtedly  the  vast  size  of 
the  basin  that  these  rivers  drain." 

"  The  great  speed  at  which  the  atmospheric  cur- 
rents move,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  coupled  with  the 
comparative  lowness  of  the  mountain  chains  and  the 
slight  obstruction  they  offer  to  their  passage,  must 
distribute  the  rain  very  thoroughly,  notwithstanding 
the  great  unbroken  area  of  the  continents.  There 
can  be  no  such  state  of  things  here  as  exists  in  the 
western  part  of  South  America,  where  the  Andes 
are  so  high  that  any  east-bound  clouds,  in  crossing 
them,  are  shoved  up  so  far  into  a  cold  region  that  all 


246  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

moisture  they  may  have  brought  from  the  Pacific  is 
condensed  into  rain,  with  wliich  parts  of  the  western 
slope  are  dehiged,  while  clouds  from  the  Atlantic 
have  come  so  far  they  have  already  dispersed  their 
moisture,  in  consequence  of  which  the  region  just 
east  of  the  Andes  gets  little  if  any  rain.  It  is  bad 
for  a  continent  to  have  its  high  mountains  near  the 
ocean  from  which  it  should  get  its  rain,  and  good 
for  it  to  have  them  set  well  back." 

"  I  should  not  be  surprised,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  if 
we  saw  another  waterfall  to-morrow,  though  not  in 
the  shape  of  rain.  In  the  hour  before  we  stopped 
we  began  to  see  rapids  and  protruding  rocks.  That 
means  that  we  are  coming  to  a  part  of  the  channel 
that  is  comparatively  new,  since  the  older  parts  have 
had  time  to  wear  smooth.  I  take  it,  then,  that  we 
are  near  the  foot  of  a  retreating  cascade,  which  we 
may  hope  soon  to  see.  That  is  exactly  the  order  in 
which  we  found  smooth  water  and  rapids  in  river 
No.  1,  which  we  have  named  the  Harlem." 

After  this,  not  being  tired,  they  used  the  re- 
maining dark  hours  for  recording  their  recent  ad- 
ventures. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


HILLS    AND    VALLEYS. 


With  the  first  light  they  resumed  their  journey, 
and  an  hour  after  setting  out  they  sighted,  as  Cort- 
landt  had  predicted,  another  cloud  of  vapour.  The 
fall — for  such  it  proved  to  be — was  more  beautiful 
than  the  other,  for,  though  the  volume  of  water  was 
not  so  great,  it  fell  at  one  leap,  without  a  break,  and 
at  the  same  tremendous  speed,  a  distance  of  more 
than  a  thousand  feet.  The  canon  rang  with  the 
echoes,  while  the  spray  flew  in  sheets  against  the 
smooth,  glistening,  sandstone  walls.  Instead  of  com- 
ing from  a  river,  as  the  first  fall  had,  this  poured  at 
once  from  the  rocky  lip,  about  two  miles  across,  of  a 
lake  that  was  eleven  hundred  feet  above  the  surging 
mass  in  the  vale  below. 

^'  It  is  a  thousand  pities,"  said  Bearwarden, 
"  that  this  cataract  has  got  so  near  its  source  ;  for,  at 

(347) 


24S  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

the  rate  these  streams  must  cut,  this  one  in  a  few 
hundred  years,  unless  something  is  done  to  prevent 
it,  will  have  worn  back  to  the  lake,  and  then  good- 
bye to  the  falls,  which  will  become  a  series  of  rapids. 
Perhaps  the  first  effect  will  be  merely  to  reduce  by  a 
few  feet  the  height  of  the  falls,  in  which  case  they 
will  remain  in  practically  the  same  place." 

About  the  shores  of  this  lake  they  saw  rhinoce- 
roses with  long  thick  wool,  and  herds  of  creatures 
that  much  resembled  buffaloes. 

"  I  do  not  see,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  why  the  iden- 
tical species  should  not  exist  here  that  till  recently, 
in  a  geological  sense,  inhabited  the  earth.  The 
climate  and  all  other  conditions  are  practically  the 
same  on  both  planets,  except  a  trifling  difference  in 
weight,  to  which  terrestrials  would  soon  adapt  them- 
selves. We  know  by  spectroscopic  analysis  that 
hydrogen,  iron,  magnesium,  and  all  our  best-known 
substances  exist  in  the  sun,  and  even  the  stars,  while 
the  earth  contains  everything  we  have  found  in 
meteorites.  Then  why  make  an  exception  of  life, 
instead  of  supposing  that  at  corresponding  periods  of 
development  the  same  living  forms  inhabit  all  ?  It 
would  be   assuming  the   eternal   sterilization   of  the 


HILLS  AND  VALLEYS.  249 

fanctions  of  Nature  to  suppose  that  our  earth  is  the 
only  body  that  can  produce  them." 

"  The  world  of  organic  life  is  so  much  more  com- 
plex," replied  Cortlandt,  "  than  that  of  the  crystal, 
that  it  requires  great  continuity.  So  far  we  certainly 
have  seen  no  men,  or  anything  like  them,  not  even 
so  much  as  a  monkey,  though  I  suppose,  according  to 
your  reasoning,  Jupiter  has  not  advanced  far  enough 
to  produce  even  that." 

"  Exactly,"  replied  Bearwarden,  "  for  it  will  re- 
quire vast  periods;  and,  according  to  my  belief,  at 
least  half  the  earth's  time  of  habitability  had  passed 
before  man  appeared.  But  we  see  Jupiter  is  admira- 
bly suited  for  those  who  have  been  developed  some- 
where else,  and  it  w^ould  be  an  awful  shame  if  we 
allowed  it  to  lie  unimproved  till  it  produces  apprecia- 
tive inhabitants  of  its  own,  for  we  find  more  to  ad- 
mire in  one  half-hour  than  its  entire  present  popu- 
lation during  its  lifetime.  Yet,  how  magnificent 
this  world  is,  and  how  superior  in  its  natural  state  to 
ours!  The  mountainous  horns  of  these  crescent- 
shaped  continents  protect  them  and  the  ocean  they 
enclose  from  the  cold  polar  marine  currents,  and  in  a 
measure    from   the   icy   winds;    while   the   elevated 


250  A  JOURXEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

country  on  the  horns  near  the  equator  might  be  a 
Garden  of  Eden,  or  ideal  resort.  To  be  sure,  the 
continents  might  support  a  larger  population,  if  more 
broken  up,  notwithstanding  the  advantage  resulting 
from  the  comparatively  low  mountains  along  the 
coasts,  and  the  useful  w^inds.  A  greater  subdivision 
of  land  and  water,  more  great  islands  connected  by 
isthmuses,  and  more  mediterraneans  joined  by  straits, 
would  be  a  further  advantage  to  commerce ;  but  with 
the  sources  of  power  at  hand,  the  resistless  winds  and 
water-power,  much  increased  in  effectiveness  by  their 
weight,  the  great  tides  when  several  moons  are  on 
the  same  side,  or  opposite  the  sun,  internal  heat  near 
the  surface,  and  abundant  coal-supply  doubtless  al- 
ready formed  and  also  near  the  surface,  such  small 
alterations  could  be  made  very  easily,  and  would  serve 
merely  to  prevent  our  becoming  rusty. 

"  As  Jupiter's  distance  from  the  sun  varies  from 
506,563,000  miles  at  aphelion  to  only  460,013,000  at 
perihelion,  this  difference,  in  connection  with  even 
the  slight  inclination  of  the  axis,  must  make  a  slight 
change  in  seasons,  but  as  the  inclination  is  prac- 
tically nothing,  almost  the  entire  change  results  from 
the   difference   in    distance.      This   means    that   the 


HILLS  AND  VALLEYS.  251 

rise  or  fall  in  temperature  is  general  on  every  degree 
of  latitude,  all  being  warmed  simultaneously,  more  oi- 
less,  as  the  planet  approaches  or  departs  from  the  sun. 
It  means  also  that  about  the  same  conditions  that 
Secretary  Deepwaters  suggested  as  desirable  for  the 
earth,  prevail  here,  and  that  Jupiter  represents,  there- 
fore, about  the  acme  of  climate  naturally  provided. 
On  account  of  its  rapid  rotation  and  vast  size,  the 
winds  have  a  tornado's- strength,  but  they  are  nothing 
at  this  distance  from  the  sun  to  what  they  would  be 
if  a  planet  with  its  present  rate  of  rotation  and  size 
were  where  Venus  or  even  the  earth  is.  In  either  of 
these  positions  no  land  life  with  which  we  are  ac- 
quainted could  live  on  the  surface  ;  for  the  slope  of 
the  atmospheric  isobars— i.  e.,  the  hues  of  equal  baro- 
metric pressure  that  produce  wind  by  becoming  tilted 
through  unequal  expansion,  after  which  the  air,  as  it 
were,  flows  down-hill — would  be  too  great.  The  as- 
cending currents  about  the  equator  would  also,  of 
course,  be  vastly  strengthened ;  so  that  we  see  a  wise 
dispensation  of  Providence  in  placing  the  large  plan- 
ets, which  also  rotate  so  rapidly,  at  a  great  distance 
from  the  sun,  which  is  the  father  of  all  winds,  rotation 

alone,  however  rapid,  being  unable  to  produce  them." 
17 


252  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

Tliej  found  this  lake  was  about  six  times  the  size 
of  Lake  Superior,  and  that  several  large  and  small 
streams  ran  into  its  upper  end.  These  had  their 
sources  in  smaller  lakes  that  were  at  slightly  higher 
elevations.  Though  the  air  was  cool,  the  sun  shone 
brightly,  while  the  ground  was  covered  with  flowers 
resembling  those  of  the  northern  climes  on  earth,  of 
all  shapes  and  hues.  Twice  a  day  these  sent  up  their 
song,  and  trees  were  covered  with  buds,  and  the  birds 
twittered  gaily.  The  streams  murmured  and  bubbled, 
and  all  things  reminded  the  travellers  of  early  morn- 
ing in  spring. 

"  If  anything  could  reconcile  me,"  said  Bearwar- 
den,  '"  to  exchange  my  active  utilitarian  life  for  a  rus- 
tic poetical  existence,  it  would  be  this  place,  for  it  is 
far  more  beautiful  than  anything  I  have  seen  on  earth. 
It  needs  but  a  Maud  Muller  and  a  few  cows  to  com- 
plete the  picture,  since  N'ature  gives  us  a  vision  of 
eternal  peace  and  repose." 

Somehow  the  mention  of  ]\Iaud  Muller,  and  the 
delicate  and  refined  flowers,  whose  perfume  he  in- 
haled, brought  up  thoughts  that  were  never  far  below 
the  surface  in  Ayrault's  mind.  "  The  place  is  heaven- 
ly enough,"  said  he,  "  to  make  one  wish  to  live  and 


HILLS  AND  VALLEYS.  253 

remain  here  forever,  but  to  me  it  would  be  Hamlet 
with  Hamlet  left  out." 

"Ah!  poor  chap,"  said  Cortlandt,  "you  are  in 
love,  but  you  are  not  to  be  pitied,  for  though  the 
thrusts  at  the  heart  are  sharp,  they  may  be  the 
sweetest  that  mortals  know." 

The  following  morning  they  reluctantly  left  the 
picturesque  shores  of  Lake  Serenity,  with  their  beau- 
tiful tints  and  foliage,  and  resumed  the  journey,  to 
explore  a  number  of  islands  in  the  ocean  in  the  west, 
which  were  recorded  on  their  negatives.  Ascending 
to  rarefied  air,  they  saw  great  chains  of  mountains, 
which  they  imagined  ran  parallel  to  the  coast,  rising 
to  considerable  altitudes  in  the  east.  The  tops  of  all 
glistened  with  a  mantle  of  snow  in  the  sunlight,  while 
between  the  ridges  they  saw  darker  and  evidently 
fertile  valleys.  They  passed,  moving  northwest,  over 
large  and  small  lakes,  all  evidently  part  of  the  same 
great  system,  and  continued  to  sweep  along  for  sev- 
eral days  with  a  beautiful  panorama,  as  varying  as  a 
kaleidoscope,  spread  beneath  their  eyes.  They  ob- 
served that  the  character  of  the  country  gradually 
changed.  The  symmetrically  rounded  mountains  and 
hills  began  to  show  angles,  while  great  slabs  of  rock 


2^4:  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

were  split  from  the  faces.  The  sides  also  became  less 
vertical,  and  there  was  an  accumulation  of  detrital 
fragments  about  their  bases.  These  heaps  of  frac- 
tured stone  had  in  some  cases  begun  ta  disintegrate 
and  form  soil,  on  which  there  was  a  scant  growth  of 
vegetation  ;  but  the  sides  and  summits,  whose  jagged- 
ness  increased  with  their  height,  were  absolutely  bare. 
"Here,"  said  Cortlandt,  "we  have  unmistakable 
evidence  of  frost  and  ice  action.  The  next  interest- 
ing question  is.  How  recently  has  denudation  oc- 
curred ?  The  absence  of  plant  life  at  the  exposed 
places,"  he  continued,  as  if  lecturing  to  a  class,  "  can 
be  accounted  for  here,  as  nearer  the  equator,  by  the 
violence  of  the  wind ;  but  I  greatly  doubt  whether 
water  will  now  freeze  in  this  latitude  at  any  season  of 
the  year,  for,  even  should  the  Korthern  hemisphere's 
very  insignificant  winter  coincide  with  the  planet's 
aphelion,  the  necessary  drop  from  the  present  tem- 
perature would  be  too  great  to  be  at  all  probable.  If, 
then,  it  is  granted  that  ice  does  not  form  here  now, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  it  has  done  so,  the  most 
plausible  conclusion  is  that  the  inclination  of  Jupiter's 
axis  is  automatically  changing',  as  we  know  the  earth's 
has  often  done.     There  being  nothing  incompatible 


HILLS  AND  VALLEYS.  255 

in  this  view  with  the  evidence  at  hand,  we  can  safely 
assume  it  correct  for  the  time  being  at  least.  When 
farther  south,  you  remember,  we  found  no  trace  of 
ice  action,  notwithstanding  the  comparative  slowness 
with  which  we  decided  that  the  ridges  in  the  crust 
had  been  upheaved  on  account  of  the  resisting  power 
of  gravity,  and,  as  I  see  now,  also  on  account  of  Jupi- 
ter's great  mass,  which  must  prevent  its  losing  its 
heat  anything  like  as  fast  as  the  earth  has,  in  which  I 
think  also  we  have  the  explanation  of  the  compara- 
tively low  elevation  of  the  jnountains  that  we  found 
we  could  not  account  for  by  the  power  of  gravitation 
alone.*  From  the  fact  that  the  exposed  surface  far- 
ther south  must  be  old,  on  account  of  the  slow  up- 
heaval and  the  slight  wear  to  -which  it  is  exposed, 
about  the  only  wearing  agent  being  the  wind,  which 
would  be  powerless  to  erase  ice-scratches,  especially 
since,  on  account  of  gravity's  power,  it  cannot,  like 
our   desert   winds,   carry  much    sand — which,   as  we 


*  It  is  well  known  that  mountain  chains  are  but  ridges  or 
foldings  in  the  crust  upheaved  as  the  interior  cools  and  shrinks. 
This  is  proved  by  reason  and  by  experiments  with  viscous  clay  or 
other  material  placed  upon  a  sheet  of  stretched  rubber,  which  is 
afterwards  allowed  to  contract,  whereupon  the  analogues  of  moun- 
tain ridges  are  thrown  up. 


256  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

know,  has  cut  away  the  base  of  tlie  Sphinx — I  think 
it  is  logical  to  conclude  that,  though  Jupiter's  axis 
is  changing  naturally  as  the  earth's  has  been,  it  has 
never  varied  as  much  as  twenty-three  and  a  half  de- 
grees, and  certainly  to  nothing  like  the  extent  to 
which  we  see  Yenus  and  Uranus  tilted  to-day.'' 

"I  follow  you,"  said  Bearwarden,  "and  do  not 
see  how  we  could  arrive  at  anything  else.  From 
Jupiter's  low  specific  gravity,  weighing  but  little 
more  than  an  equal  bulk  of  water,  I  should  say  the 
interior  must  be  very  hot,  pr  else  is  composed  of  light 
material,  for  the  crust's  surface,  or  the  part  we  see, 
is  evidently  about  as  dense  as  what  we  have  on  earth. 
These  things  have  puzzled  me  a  good  deal,  and  I 
have  been  wondering  if  Jupiter  may  not  have 
been  formed  before  the  earth  and  the  smaller 
planets." 

"  The  discrepancies  between  even  the  best  author- 
ities," replied  Cortlandt,  "  show  that  as  yet  but  little 
has  been  discovered  from  the  earth  concerning  Jupi- 
ter's real  condition.  The  two  theories  that  try  to  ac- 
count for  its  genesis  are  the  ring  theory  and  the  neb- 
ulous. "We  know  that  the  sun  is  constantly  emitting 
vast  volumes  of  heat  and  light,  and  that,  with  the  ex- 


HILLS  AND  VALLEYS.  257 

ception  of  the  lieat  resulting  from  the  impact  of  fall- 
ing meteors,  it  receives  none  from  outside,  the  prin- 
cipal source  being  the  tremendous  friction  and  pres- 
sure between  the  cooling  and  shrinking  strata  within 
the  great  mass  of  the  sun  itself.  A  seeming  paradox 
therefore  comes  in  here,  which  must  be  considered : 
If  the  sun  were  composed  entirely  of  gas,  it  would  for 
a  time  continue  to  grow  hotter ;  but  the  sun  is  inces- 
santly radiating  light  and  heat,  and  consequently  be- 
coming smaller.  Therefore  the  farther  back  we  go 
the  hotter  we  find  the  sun,  and  also  the  larger,  till, 
instead  of  having  a  diameter  of  eight  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  miles,  it  filled  the  space  now  occu- 
pied by  the  entire  solar  system.  Here  is  where  the 
two  theories  start.  -  According  to  the  first,  the  revolv- 
ing nebulous  mass  threw  off  a  ring  that  became  the 
planet  ISTeptune,  afterwards  another  that  contained 
the  material  for  Uranus,  and  so  on,  the  lightest  sub- 
stance in  the  sun  being  thrown  off  first,  by  which 
they  accounted  for  the  lightness  of  the  four  great 
planets,  and  finally  Mars,  the  earth,  and  the  small 
dense  planets  near  the  sun.  The  advocates  of  this 
theory  pointed  to  Saturn's  rings  as  an  illustration  of 
the  birth  of  a  planet,  or,  rather,  in  that  case  a  satellite. 


258  ^  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER   WORLDS. 

According  to  this,  the  major  planets  have  liad  a  far 
longer  separate  existence  than  the  minor,  which 
wonld  account  for  their  being  so  advanced  notwith- 
standing their  size.  This  theory  may  again  come  into 
general  acceptance,  but  for  the  present  it  has  been 
discredited  by  the  nebulous.  According  to  this  sec- 
ond theory,  at  the  time  the  sun  filled  all  the  space 
inside  of  Neptune's  orbit,  or  extended  even  farther, 
several  centres  of  condensation  were  formed  within 
the  nebulous,  gaseous  mass.  The  greatest  centre  be- 
came the  sun,  and  the  others,  large  and  small,  the 
planets,  which — as  a  result  of  the  spiral  motion  of  the 
whole,  such  as  is  now  going  on  before  our  eyes  in  the 
great  nebulae  of  fifty-one  M.  Canum  venaticorum, 
and  many  others — began  to  revolve  about  the  greatest 
central  body  of  gas.  As  the  separate  masses  cooled, 
they  shrank,  and  their  surfaces  or  extreme  edges, 
which  at  first  were  contiguous,  began  to  recede, 
which  recession  is  still  going  on  with  some  rapidity 
on  the  part  of  tlie  sun,  for  we  may  be  sure  its  diame- 
ter diminishes  as  its  density  increases.  According  to 
either  theory,  as  I  see  it,  the  major  planets,  on  ac- 
count of  their  distance  from  the  central  mass,  have 
had  longer  separate  existences  than  the  minor,  and 


HILLS  AND   VALLEYS.  259 

are  therefore  more  advanced  than  they  would  be  had 
all  been  formed  at  the  same  time. 

''  This  theory  explains  the  practical  uniformity 
in  the  chemical  composition  of  all  members  of  this 
system  by  assuming  that  they  were  all  once  a  part 
of  the  same  body,  and  you  may  say  brothers  and 
sisters  of  the  sun,  instead  of  its  offspring.  It  also 
makes  size  the  only  factor  determining  temperature 
and  density,  but  of  course  modified  by  age,  since 
otherwise  Jupiter  would  have  a  far  less  developed 
crust  than  that  with  which  we  find  it.  I  have  always 
considered  the  period  from  the  molten  condition  to 
that  with  a  crust  as  comparatively  short,  which 
stands  to  reason,  for  radiation  has  then  no  check ; 
and  the  period  from  the  formation  of  the  crust, 
which  acts  as  a  blanket,  to  the  death  of  a  planet,  as 
very  long.  I  have  not  found  this  view  clearly  set 
forth  in  any  of  the  books  I  have  read,  but  it  seems 
to  me  the  simplest  and  most  natural  explanation. 
'Now,  granted  that  the  solar  system  was  once  a  neb- 
ula, on  which  I  think  every  one  will  agree — the  same 
forces  that  changed  it  into  a  system  of  sun  and 
planets  must  be  at  work  on  fifty-one  M.  Canum 
venaticorum,  Andromeda,  and    ninety-nine    M.  Yir- 


9r,0  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

giiiis,  and  must  inevitably  change  them  to  suns,  each 
with  doubtless  a  system  of  planets. 

"If,  then,  the  condition  of  a  nebula  or  star  de- 
pends simply  on  its  size,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  Andromeda,  Sirius,  and  all  the  vast  bodies  we 
see,  were  created  at  the  same  time  as  our  system, 
which  involves  the  necessity  of  one  general  and  si- 
multaneous creation  day.  But  as  Sirius,  with  its 
diameter  of  twelve  million  miles,  must  be  larger 
than  some  of  the  nebulae  will  be  when  equally 
condensed,  we  must  suppose  rather  that  nebulte  are 
forming  and  coming  into  the  condition  of  bright 
and  dead  stars,  much  as  apples  or  pears  on  a  fruit 
tree  are  constantly  growing  and  developing,  so  that 
the  Mosaic  description  of  the  creation  would  proba- 
bly apply  in  point  of  time  only  to  our  system,  or 
perhaps  to  our  globe,  though  the  rest  will  doubtless 
pass  through  precisely  the  same  stages.  This,  I  think, 
I  will  publish,  on  our  return,  as  the  Cortland t  astro- 
nomical doctrine,  as  the  most  rational  I  have  seen  de- 
vised, and  one  that  I  think  we  may  safely  believe, 
until,  perhaps,  through  increased  knowledge,  it  can 
be  disproved." 

After   thev  crossed    a   line  of   hills   that  ran   at 


HILLS  AND  VALLEYS.  261 

right  angles  to  their  course  they  found  the  country 
more  rolHng.  All  streams  and  water-courses  flowed 
in  their  direction,  while  their  aneroid  showed  them 
that  they  were  gradually  descending.  When  they  were 
moving  along  near  the  surface  of  the  ground,  a  de- 
licious and  refined  perfume  exhaled  by  the  blue  and 
white  flowers,  that  had  been  growing  smaller  as  they 
journeyed  northward,  frequently  reached  their  nos- 
trils. To  Cortlandt  and  Bearwarden  it  was  merely 
the  scent  of  a  flower,  but  to  Ayrault  it  recalled  men- 
tal pictures  of  Sylvia  wearing  violets  and  lilies  that 
he  had  given  her.  He  knew  that  the  greatest  tele- 
scopes on  earth  could  not  reveal  the  Callisto  moving 
about  in  Jupiter's  sunshine,  as  even  a  point  of  light, 
at  that  distance,  and,  notwithstanding  Cortlandt's 
learning  and  Bearwarden's  joviality,  he  felt  at  times 
extremely  lonely. 

They  swept  along  steadily  for  fifty  hours,  having 
bright  sunny  days  and  beautifully  moonlit  nights. 
They  passed  over  finely  rounded  hills  and  valleys  and 
well- watered  plains.  As  they  approached  the  ocean 
and  its  level  the  temperature  rose,  and  there  was 
more  moisture  in  the  air.  The  plants  and  flow- 
ers also   increased    in    size,  again    resembling   some- 


2G2  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

wliat    the    large   species    they    had    seen   near    the 
equator. 

''  This  would  be  the  place  to  live,"  said  Bearwar- 
den,  looking  at  iron  mountains,  silver,  copper,  and 
lead  formations,  primeval  forests,  rich  prairies,  and 
regions  evidently  underlaid  with  coal  and  petroleum, 
not  to  mention  huge  beds  of  aluminum  clay,  and 
other  natural  resources,  that  made  his  materialistic 
mouth  water.  "  It  would  be  joy  and  delight  to  de- 
velop industries  here,  with  no  snow  avalanches  to 
clog  your  railroads,  or  icy  blizzards  to  paralyze  work, 
nor  weather  that  blio^hts  vou  with  sun-strokes  and 
fevers.  On  our  return  to  the  earth  we  must  or- 
ganize a  company  to  run  regular  interplanetary  lines. 
We  could  start  on  this  globe  all  that  is  best  on  our 
own.  Think  what  boundless  possibilities  may  be  be- 
fore the  human  race  on  this  planet,  which  on  account 
of  its  vast  size  will  be  in  its  prime  when  our  insig- 
nificant earth  is  cold  and  dead  and  no  longer  capable 
of  supporting  life  I  Think  also  of  the  indescribable 
blessing  to  the  congested  communities  of  Europe  and 
America,  to  find  an  unlimited  outlet  here  !  Mars  is 
already  past  its  prime,  and  Venus  scarcely  habitable, 
but   in   Jupiter  we  have  a  new  promised   land,  com- 


HILLS  AND  VALLEYS.  2G3 

pared  with  wliicli  our  earth  is  a  pygmy,  or  hut  httle 
more  than  microscopic." 

"I  see,"  said  Ayrault,  "that  the  possibihties 
here  have  no  hmit ;  but  I  do  not  see  how  you  can 
compare  it  to  the  promised  land,  since,  till  w^e  under- 
took this  journey,  no  one  had  even  thought  of  Jupi- 
ter as  a  habitable  place." 

"  I  trace  the  Divine  promise,"  replied  Bearwar- 
den,  "  in  what  you  described  to  us  on  earth  as  man's 
innate  longing  and  desire  to  rise,  and  in  the  fact 
that  the  Almighty  has  given  the  race  unbounded  ex- 
pansiveness  in  very  limited  space.  This  would  look 
to  me  as  the  return  of  man  to  the  garden  of  Eden 
through  intellectual  development,  for  here  every  man 
can  sit  under  his  own  vine  and  fig-tree." 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  that  no  paradise 
or  heaven  described  in  anything  but  the  Bible  com- 
pares with  this.  According  to  Yirgil's  description, 
the  joys  on  the  banks  of  his  river  Lethe  must  have 
been  most  sad  and  dreary,  the  general  idleness  and 
monotony  apparently  being  broken  only  by  wrestling 
matches  between  the  children,  while  the  rest  strolled 
about  with  laurel  wreaths  or  rested  in  the  shade.  The 
pilot  Palinurus,  who  had  been    drowned   by  falling 


264:  A  JOURNEY   IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

overboard  while  asleep,  but  who  before  that  had  pre- 
sumably done  his  duty,  did  not  seem  especially  happy ; 
while  the  harsh,  resentful  disposition  evidently  re- 
mained unsoftened,  for  Dido  l)ecame  like  a  clilf  of 
Marpesian  marble  when  ^neas  asked  to  be  forgiven, 
though  he  had  doubtless  considered  himself  in  duty 
bound  to  leave  her,  having  been  twice  commanded 
to  do  so  by  Mercury,  the  messenger  of  Jove.  She, 
like  the  rest,  seems  to  have  had  no  occupation,  while 
the  consciences  of  few  appear  to  have  been  sufficient- 
ly clear  to  enable  them  to  enjoy  unbroken  rest." 

"  The  idleness  in  the  spirit-land  of  all  profane 
writers,"  added  Bearwarden,  "has  often  surprised 
me  too.  Though  I  have  always  recommended  a 
certain  amount  of  recreation  for  my  staff — in  fact, 
more  than  I  have  generally  had  myself — an  excess 
of  it  becomes  a  bore.  I  think  that  all  real  progress 
comes  through  thorough  work.  Why  should  we 
assume  that  progress  ceases  at  death  ?  I  believ^e  in 
the  verse  that  says,  '  We  learn  liere  on  earth  those 
things  the  knowledge  of  which  is  perfected  in 
heaven.'  " 

"According  to  that,"  said  Cortlandt,  "you  will 
some  day  be  setting  the  axis  of  heaven  right,  for  in 


HILLS  AND  VALLEYS.  265 

order  to  do  work  there  must  be  work  to  be  done — a 
necessary  corollary  to  wliicli  is  that  Leaven  is  still 
imperfect." 

"  IS^o,"  said  Bearwarden,  bristling  np  at  tlie  way 
Cortlandt  sometimes  received  Lis  speecLes,  "  it  means 
simply  tliat  its  development,  tLougL  perfect  so  far 
as  it  goes,  may  not  be  finisLed,  and  tliat  we  may  be 
tLe  means,  as  on  eartli,  of  Lelping  it  along." 

"  TLe  conditions  constituting  Leaven,"  said  Ay- 
rault,  "  may  be  as  fixed  as  tLe  laws  of  Kature, 
tLougL  tLe  products  of  tliose  conditions  migLt,  it 
seems  to  me,  still  be  forming  and  subject  to  modifi- 
cation tLereby.  TLe  reductio  ad  ahsurdttm  would 
of  course  apply  if  we  supposed  tLe  work  of  creation 
absolutely  finisLed." 


CHAPTEK  XIII. 


NORTH-POLAR    DISCOVERIES. 


Two  days  later,  on  the  western  horizon,  they  be- 
held the  ocean.  Many  of  the  streams  whose  sources 
they  had  seen  when  they  crossed  the  divide  from  the 
lake  basin,  and  whose  courses  they  had  followed, 
were  now  rivers  a  mile  wide,  with  the  tide  ebbine: 
and  rising  within  them  many  hundreds  of  miles  from 
their  mouths.  When  they  reached  the  shore  line 
they  found  the  waves  breaking,  as  on  earth,  upon  the 
sands,  but  with  this  difference :  they  had  before 
noted  the  smallness  of  the  undulations  compared 
with  the  strength  of  the  wind,  the  result  of  the 
water's  weight.  These  waves  now  reminded  them  of 
the  behaviour  of  mercury,  or  of  melted  lead  when 
stirred  on  earth,  l)y  the  rapidity  with  which  the 
crests  dropped.  Though  the  wind  was  blowing  an 
on-shore  gale,  there  was  but  little  combing,  and  when 

(26C) 


NORTH-POLAR  DISCOVERIES.  26 Y 

there  was  any  it  lasted  but  a  second.  The  one  effort 
of  the  crests  and  waves  seemed  to  be  to  remain  at 
rest,  or,  if  stirred  in  spite  of  themselves,  to  subside. 

When  over  the  surface  of  the  ocean,  the  voyagers 
rose  to  a  height  of  thirty  thousand  metres,  and  after 
twenty-four  hours'  travelling  saw,  at  a  distance  of 
about  two  hundred  miles,  what  looked  like  another 
continent,  but  which  they  knew  must  be  an  island. 
On  finding  themselves  above  it,  they  rose  still  higher 
to  obtain  a  view  of  its  outlines  and  compare  its  shape 
with  that  of  the  islands  in  the  photographs  they  had 
had  time  to  develop.  The  length  ran  from  south- 
east to  northwest.  Though  crossed  by  latitude 
forty,  and  notwithstanding  Jupiter's  distance  from 
the  sun,  the  southern  side  had  a  very  luxuriant  vege- 
tation that  was  almost  semi-tropical.  This  they  ac- 
counted for  by  its  total  immunity  from  cold,  the 
density  of  the  air  at  sea-level,  and  the  warm  moist 
breezes  it  received  from  the  tepid  ocean.  The 
climate  was  about  the  same  as  that  of  the  Riviera 
or  of  Florida  in  winter,  and  there  was,  of  course,  no 
parching  summer. 

"  This   shows   me,"    said    Bearwarden,    "  that    a 

country's  climate  depends  less  on  the  amount  of  heat 
18 


268  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

it  receives  from  tlie  sun  than  on  tlie  amount  it  re- 
tains ;  proof  of  which  we  have  in  the  tops  of  the 
Himalayas  perpetually  covered  with  snow,  and  snow- 
capped mountains  on  the  very  equator,  where  they 
get  the  most  direct  rays,  and  where  those  rays  have 
but  little  air  to  penetrate.  It  shows  that  the  pres- 
ence of  a  substantial  atmosphere  is  as  necessary  a 
part  of  the  calculation  in  practice  as  the  sun  itself. 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that,  with  the  constant  effect  of 
the  internal  heat  on  its  oceans  and  atmosphere,  Jupi- 
ter could  get  along  with  a  good  deal  less  solar  heat 
than  it  receives,  in  proof  of  which  I  expect  to  find 
the  poles  themselves  quite  comfortable.  The  reason 
the  internal  heat  is  so  little  taken  into  account  on 
earth  is  because,  from  the  thickness  of  the  crust,  it 
cannot  make  itself  felt ;  for  if  the  earth  were  as 
chilled  through  as  ice,  the  people  on  the  surface 
would  not  feel  the  difEerence." 

A  Jovian  week's  explorations  disclosed  the  fact 
that  though  the  island's  general  outlines  were  fairly 
regular,  it  had  deep-water  harbours,  great  rivers,  and 
land-locked  gulfs  and  bays,  some  of  which  penetrated 
many  hundred  miles  into  the  interior.  It  also 
showed  that  the  island's  leno;th  was  about  six  thou- 


NORTH-POLAR  DISCOVERIES.  269 

sand  miles,  and  its  breadth  about  three  thousand,  and 
that  it  had  therefore  about  the  superficial  area  of 
Asia.  They  found  no  trace  of  the  great  monsters 
that  had  been  so  numerous  on  the  mainland,  though 
there  were  plenty  of  smaller  and  gentle-looking 
creatures,  among  them  animals  whose  build  was 
much  like  that  of  the  prehistoric  horse,  with  unde- 
veloped toes  on  each  side  of  the  hoof,  which  in  the 
modern  terrestrial  horse  have  disappeared,  the  hoof 
being  in  reality  but  a  rounded-off  middle  finger. 

"  It  is  wonderful,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  how  com- 
paratively narrow  a  body  of  water  can  keep  different 
species  entirely  separate.  The  island  of  Sumatra,  for 
instance,  is  inhabited  by  marsupials  belonging  to  the 
distinct  Australian  type,  in  which  the  female,  as  in 
the  kangaroo,  carries  the  slightly  developed  young  in 
a  pouch ;  while  the  Malay  peninsula,  joined  to  the 
mainland,  has  all  the  highly  developed  animals  of 
Asia  and  the  connected  land  of  the  Eastern  hemi- 
sphere, the  narrow  Malacca  Strait  being  all  that  has 
kept  marsupials  and  mammals  apart,  though  the 
separating  power  has  been  increased  by  the  rapid 
current  setting  through.  This  has  decreased  ,the 
chance  of  creatures  carried  to  sea  on  drift-wood  or 


270  A  JOURNEY   IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

uprooted  trees  getting  safely  over  to  such  a  degree 
that  apparently  none  have  survived  ;  for,  had  they 
done  so,  we  may  be  certain  that  the  mammals,  with 
the  advantage  their  young  have  over  the  mar- 
supials, would  soon  have  run  them  out,  the  mar- 
supials being  the  older  and  the  less  perfect  form  of 
life  of  the  two." 

Before  leaving  the  beautiful  sea-girt  region  be- 
neath them,  Cortlandt  proposed  that  it  be  named 
after  their  host,  which  Bearwarden  seconded,  where- 
upon they  entered  it  as  Ayrault  Island  on  the  charts. 
After  this  they  rose  to  a  great  height,  and  flew 
swiftly  over  three  thousand  miles  of  ocean  till  they 
came  to  another  island  not  quite  as  large  as  the  first. 
It  was  four  thousand  five  hundred  miles  long  by 
something  less  than  three  thousand  w^de,  -and  was 
therefore  about  the  size  of  Africa.  It  had  several 
high  ranges  of  mountains  and  a  number  of  great 
rivers  and  fine  harbours,  while  murmuring,  bub- 
bling brooks  flowed  through  its  forest  glades.  There 
were  active  volcanoes  along  the  northern  coast,  and 
the  blue,  crimson,  and  purple  hues  in  the  luxuri- 
ant foliage  were  the  most  beautiful  they  had  ever 
seen. 


NORTH-POLAR  DISCOVERIES.  271 

"  I  propose,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  that  we  christen 
this  Sylvialand."  This  Cortlandt  immediately  sec- 
onded, and  it  was  so  entered  on  the  charts. 

"These  two  islands,"  said  Bearwarden,  "may 
become  the  centres  of  civilization.  With  flying  ma- 
chines and  cables  to  carry  passengers  and  informa- 
tion, and  ships  of  great  displacement  for  the  inter- 
change of  commodities,  there  is  no  Hmit  to  their 
possible  development.  The  absence  of  large  waves 
will  also  be  very  favourable  to  sea-spiders,  which 
will  be  able  to  run  at  tremendous  speeds.  The  con- 
stancy in  the  eruptions  of  the  volcanoes  will  offer  a 
great  field  to  Jovian  inventors,  who  will  unquestion- 
ably be  able  to  utilize  their  heat  for  the  production 
of  steam  or  electricity,  to  say  nothing  of  an  inex- 
haustible supply  of  valuable  chemicals.  They  may 
contain  the  means  of  producing  some  force  entirely 
different  from  apergy,  and  as  superior  to  electricity 
as  that  is  to  steam.  Our  earthly  volcanoes  have  been 
put  to  slight  account  because  of  the  long  intervals 
between  eruptions." 

After  leaving  Sylvialand  they  went  westward  to 
the  eastern  of  the  two  crescent  continents.  It  was 
separated    from   the   island   by  about   six   thousand 


272  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

miles  of  ocean,  and  had  less  width  than  the  western, 
having  about  the  proportions  of  a  three-day  crescent, 
while  the  western  had  the  shape  of  the  moon  when 
four  or  five  days  old.  They  found  the  height  of  the 
mountains  and  plateaus  somewhat  less  than  on  the 
eastern  continent,  but  no  great  diiierence  in  other 
respects,  except  that,  as  they  went  towards  the  pole, 
the  vegetation  became  more  like  that  of  Scotland  or 
a  north  temperate  region  than  any  they  had  seen. 
On  reaching  latitude  fifty  they  again  came  out  over 
the  ocean  to  investigate  the  speckled  condition  they 
had  observed  there.  They  found  a  vast  archipelago 
covering  as  great  an  area  as  the  whole  Pacific  Ocean. 
The  islands  varied  from  the  size  of  Borneo  and  Mada- 
gascar to  that  of  Sicily  and  Corsica,  while  some  con- 
tained but  a  few  square  miles.  The  surface  of  the 
archipelago  was  about  equally  divided  between  land 
and  water. 

"  It  would  take  good  navigation  or  an  elaborate 
system  of  light-houses,"  said  Bearwarden,  "for  a 
captain  to  find  the  shortest  course  through  these 
groups." 

The  islands  were  covered  with  shade  trees  much 
resembling  those  on  earth,  and  the  leaves  on  many 


NORTH-POLAR  DISCOVERIES.  273 

were  turning  yellow  and  red,  for  this  hemisphere's 
autumn  had  already  begun. 

"  The  Jovian  trees,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  can  never 
cease  to  bear,  though  the  change  of  seasons  is  evi- 
dently able  to  turn  their  colour,  perhaps  by  merely 
ripening  them.  When  a  ripe  leaf  falls  off,  its  place 
is  doubtless  soon  taken  by  a  bud,  for  germination  and 
fructification  go  on  side  by  side." 

Before  leaving,  they  decided  to  name  this  Twen- 
tieth Century  Archipelago,  since  so  much  of  the 
knowledge  appertaining  to  it  had  been  acquired  in 
their  own  day.  At  latitude  sixty  the  northern  arms 
of  the  two  continents  came  within  fifteen  hundred 
miles  of  each  other.  The  eastern  extension  was  split 
like  the  tail  of  a  fish,  the  great  bay  formed  thereby 
being  tilled  with  islands,  which  also  extended  about 
half  of  the  distance  across.  The  western  extremity 
shelved  very  gradually,  the  sand-bars  running  out  for 
miles  just  below  the  surface  of  the  water. 

After  this  the  travellers  flew  northward  at  great 
speed  in  the  upper  regions  of  the  air,  for  they  were 
anxious  to  hasten  their  journey.  They  found  nothing 
but  unbroken  sea,  and  not  till  they  reached  latitude 
eighty-seven  was  there  a  sign  of  ice.     They  then  saw 


27-i  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

some  small  bergs  and  field  ice,  but  in  no  great  quan- 
tities. As  tlieir  outside  thermometer,  when  just 
above  the  placid  water — for  there  were  no  waves 
here — registered  twentj-one  degrees  Fahrenheit,  they 
accounted  for  this  scarcity  of  ice  l)y  the  absence  of 
land  on  which  fresh  water  could  freeze,  and  by  the 
fact  that  it  was  not  cold  enough  to  congeal  the  very 
salt  sea- water. 

Finally  they  reached  another  archipelago  a  few 
hundred  miles  in  extent,  the  larger  islands  of  which 
were  covered  with  a  sheet  of  ice,  at  the  edges  of 
which  small  icebergs  were  being  formed  by  l)reaking 
off  and  slowly  floating.  Finding  a  small  island  on 
wliieh  tlie  coating  was  thin,  they  grounded  the  Cal- 
listo,  and  stepped  out  for  tlie  first  time  in  several 
days.  The  air  was  so  still  that  a  small  piece  of  paper 
released  at  a  height  of  six  feet  sank  slowly  and  went 
as  straight  as  the  string  of  a  plumb-line.  The  sun 
was  bisected  by  the  line  of  the  horizon,  and  appeared 
to  be  moving  about  them  in  a  circle,  with  only  its 
upper  half  visible.  As  Jupiter's  northern  hemisphere 
was  passing  through  its  autumnal  equinox,  they  con- 
cluded they  had  landed  exactly  at  the  pole. 

"  Now  to  work  on  our  exj^eriment,"  said  Cort- 


NORTH-POLAR  DISCOVERIES.  275 

landt.  "  I  wonder  how  we  may  best  get  below  tlie 
frozen  surface  ?  " 

"  We  can  explode  a  small  quantity  of  dynamite," 
replied  Bearwarden,  "  after  which  the  digging  will  be 
comparatively  easy." 

While  Cortlandt  and  Bearwarden  prepared  the 
mine,  Ayrault  brought  out  a  pickaxe,  two  shovels, 
and  the  battery  and  wires  with  wdiich  to  ignite  the 
explosive.  They  made  their  preparations  within  one 
hundred  feet  of  the  Callisto,  or  much  nearer  than  an 
equivalent  amount  of  gunpowder  could  have  been 
discharged. 

"  This  recalls  an  old  laboratory  experiment,  or 
rather  lecture,"  said  Cortlandt,  as  they  completed  the 
arrangements,  "  for  the  illustration  is  not  as  a  rule 
carried  out.  Explode  two  pounds  of  powder  on  an 
iron  safe  in  a  room  with  the  windows  closed,  and  the 
windows  will  be  blown  out,  while  the  safe  remains 
uninjured.  Explode  an  equivalent  amount  of  dyna- 
mite on  top  of  the  safe,  and  it  will  be  destroyed, 
while  the  glass  panes  are  not  even  cracked.  This 
illustrates  the  difference  in  rapidity  with  which  the 
explosions  take  place.  To  the  intensely  rapid  action 
of  dynamite  the  air  affords  as  much  resistance  as  a 


97G  A  JOURNEY   IX   OTHER  WORLDS. 

solid  substance,  while  tlie  explosion  of  the  powder  is 
so  slow  that  the  air  has  time  to  move  away  ;  hence 
tlie  destruction  of  the  windows  in  the  iirst  case,  and 
tlie  safe  in  the  second/' 

When  they  had  moved  beyond  the  danger  line, 
Bearwarden,  as  the  party's  practising  engineer, 
pressed  the  button,  and  the  explosion  did  the  rest. 
They  found  that  the  ground  was  frozen  to  a  depth  of 
but  little  more  than  a  foot,  below  which  it  became 
perceptibly  warm.  Plying  their  shovels  vigorously, 
they  had  soon  dug  the  hole  so  deep  that  its  edges 
were  above  their  heads.  When  the  floor  was  ten  feet 
below  the  surrounding  level  tlie  thermometer  regis- 
tered sixty. 

"  This  is  scarcely  a  fair  test,"  said  Cortlandt, 
"  since  the  heat  rises  and  is  lost  as  fast  as  given  off. 
Let  us  therefore  close  the  opening  and  see  in 
wdiat  time  it  will  melt  a  number  of  cubic  feet  of 
ice." 

Accordingly  they  climbed  out,  threw  in  about  a 
cart-load  of  ice,  and  covered  the  opening  with  two  of 
the  Callisto's  thick  rugs.  In  half  an  hour  all  the 
ice  had  melted,  and  in  another  half  hour  the  water 
was  hot. 


NORTH-POLAR  DISCOVERIES.  277 

"  ^o  arctic  expedition  need  freeze  to  death 
here,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  since  all  a  man  would  have 
to  do  would  be  to  burrow  a  few  feet  to  be  as  warm 
as  toast." 

.  As  the  island  on  which  they  had  landed  was  at 
one  side  of  the  archipelago,  but  was  itself  at  the  ex- 
act pole,  it  followed  that  the  centre  of  the  archi- 
pelago was  not  the  part  farthest  north.  This  in  a 
measure  accounted  for  the  slight  thickness  of  ice  and 
snow,  for  the  isobaric  lines  would  slope,  and  conse- 
quently what  wind  there  was  would  flow  towards  the 
interior  of  the  archipelago,  whose  surface  was  colder 
than  the  surrounding  ocean.  The  moist  air,  how- 
ever, coming  almost  entirely  from  the  south,  would 
lose  most  of  its  moisture  by  condensation  in  passing 
over  the  ice-laden  land,  and  so,  like  the  clouds  over 
the  region  east  of  the  Andes,  would  have  but  little 
left  to  let  fall  on  this  extreme  northern  part.  The 
blanketing  effect  of  a  great  thickness  of  snow  would 
also  cause  the  lower  strata  of  ice  to  melt,  by  keep- 
ing in  the  heat  constantly  given  off  by  the  warm 
planet. 

"  I  think  there  can  be  no  question,"   said   Cort- 
landt,  "  that,  as  a  result  of  Jupiter's  great  flattening 


27S  A  JOURNEY   IX  OTRER  WORLDS. 

at  the  poles  and  the  drawing  of  the  crust,  which 
moves  faster  in  Jupiter's  rotation  than  any  other 
part,  towards  the  equator,  the  crust  must  be  par- 
ticularly thin  here ;  for,  were  it  as  thin  all  over, 
there  would  be  no  space  for  the  co^l-beds,  which, 
judging  from  the  purity  of  the  atmosphere,  must  be 
very  extensive.  Further,  we  can  recall  that  the  water 
in  the  hot  spring  near  wdiicli  we  alighted,  which 
evidently  came  from  a  far  greater  depth  than  we 
have  here,  was  not  as  hot  as  this.  The  conclusion  is 
clear  that  elsewhere  the  internal  heat  is  not  as  near 
the  surface  as  here." 

"  The  more  I  see  of  Jupiter,"  exclaimed  Bear- 
warden  enthusiastically,  "  the  more  charmed  I  be- 
come. It  almost  exactly  supplies  wdiat  I  have  been 
conjuring  up  as  my  idea  of  a  perfect  planet.  Its  com- 
pensations of  high  land  near  the  equator,  and  low 
with  effective  internal  heat  at  the  poles,  are  ideal. 
The  gradual  slope  of  its  continental  elevations,  on  ac- 
count of  their  extent,  will  ease  the  work  of  operating 
railways,  and  the  atmosphere's  density  will  be  just  the 
thing  for  our  flying  machines,  while  Nature  has 
supplied  all  sources  of  power  so  lavishly  that  no  un- 
dertaking will  be  too  great.     Though  land  as  yet,  to 


NORTH-POLAR  DISCOVERIES.  279 

judge  by  our  photographs,  occupies  only  about  one 
eighth  of  the  surface,  we  know,  from  tlie  experience 
of  the  other  planets,  that  this  is  bound  to  increase ;  so 
that,  if  the  human  race  can  perpetuate  itself  on 
Jupiter  long  enough,  it  will  undoubtedly  have  one 
fourth  or  a  larger  proportion  for  occupation,  though 
the  land  already  upheaved  comprises  fully  forty 
times  the  area  of  our  entire  globe,  which,  as  we  know, 
is  still  three  fourths  water." 

"  Since  we  have  reached  what  we  might  call  the 
end  of  Jupiter,  and  still  have  time,"  continued  Ay- 
rault,  "  let  us  proceed  to  Saturn,  where  we  may  find 
even  stranger  things  than  here.  I  hoped  we  could 
investigate  the  great  red  spot,  but  am  convinced  we 
have  seen  the  beginning  of  one  in  Twentieth  Century 
Archipelago,  and  w^hat,  under  favourable  conditions, 
will  be  recognized  as  such  on  earth." 

It  was  just  six  terrestrial  weeks  since  they  had  set 
out,  and  therefore  February  2d  on  earth. 

"  It  would  be  best,  in  any  case,  to  start  from 
Jupiter's  equator,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  for  the  straight 
line  we  should  make  from  the  surface  here  would  be 
at  right  angles  to  Saturn.  We  shall  probably,  in 
spite  of  ourselves,  swing  a  few  degrees  beyond  the 


2 so  ^  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

line,  and  so  can  get  a  bird's-eye  view  of  some  por- 
tion of  the  southern  hemisphere." 

"  All  aboard  for  Saturn  I  "  cried  Bearwarden  en- 
thusiastically, in  his  jovial  way.  "  This  will  be  a 
journey." 


CHAPTER  XIY. 


THE    SCENE    SHIFTS. 


Having  returned  the  rugs  to  the  Callisto,  they 
applied  the  maximum  power  of  the  batteries  to  ris- 
ing, closed  all  openings  when  the  barometer  regis- 
tered thirty,  and  moved  off  into  space.  When  several 
thousand  miles  above  the  pole,  they  diverted  part  of 
the  power  to  attracting  the  nearest  moon  that  was  in 
the  plane  of  Jupiter's  equator,  and  by  the  time  their 
upward  motion  had  ceased  were  moving  well  in  its 
direction.  Their  rapid  motion  aided  the  work  of 
resisting  gravity,  since  their  car  had  in  fact  become  a 
small  moon,  revolving,  like  those  of  Uranus  or  that  of 
Neptune,  in  an  orbit  varying  greatly  from  the  plane 
of  the  ecliptic.  As  they  flew  south  at  a  height  rang- 
ing from  two  thousand  to  three  thousand  miles,  the 
planet  revolved  before  them,  and  they  had  a  chance 
of  obtaining  a  thorough  view.     There  were  but  a  few 

(281) 


282  -^  JOURNEY   IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

scattered  islands  on  the  side  of  the  Xortliern  licnii- 
sphere  opposite  to  that  over  which  they  had  reached 
the  pole,  and  in  the  varying  colours  of  the  water, 
which  they  attributed  to  temperature  or  to  some  sub- 
stance in  solution,  they  recognized  what  they  had 
always  heard  described  on  earth  as  the  bands  of  Jupi- 
ter, encircling  the  planet  with  great  belts,  the  colour 
varying  with  the  latitude.  At  about  latitude  forty- 
five  these  bands  were  purple,  farther  south  light  olive 
green,  and  at  the  equator  a  brown  orange.  Shortly 
after  they  swung  across  the  equator  the  ocean  again 
became  purple,  and  at  the  same  time  a  well-defined 
and  very  brilliant  white  spot  came  into  view.  Its 
brightness  showed  slight  variations  in  intensity, 
though  its  general  shape  remained  unchanged.  It 
had  another  peculiarity,  in  that  it  possessed  a  fairly 
rapid  motion  of  its  own,  as  it  moved  eastward  across 
the  surface  of  the  ocean.  It  exhibited  all  the  phe- 
nomena of  the  storm  they  had  w^atched  in  crossing 
Secretary  Deepwaters  Bay,  but  covered  a  larger  area, 
and  was  far  more  violent.  Their  glasses  showed  them 
vast  sheets  of  spray  driven  along  at  tremendous  speed, 
while  the  surface  was  milky  white. 

"  This,"   said   Bearwarden,   picking   up   a  book. 


THE  SCENE  SHIFTS.  283 

"  solves  to  my  mind  the  mystery  of  the  white  spot 
described  by  the  English  writer  Chambers,  in  1889, 
as  follows : 

"  '  During  the  last  few  years  a  brilliant  white  spot 
has  been  visible  on  the  equatorial  border  of  the  great 
southern  belt.  A  curious  fact  in  connection  with  this 
spot  is,  that  it  moves  with  a  velocity  of  some  two 
hundred  and  sixty  miles  per  hour  greater  than  the 
red  spot.  Denning  obtained  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
nine  observations  of  this  bright  marking  during  the 
years  1880-1883,  and  determined  the  period  as  nine 
hours,  fifty  minutes,  eight  and  seven  tenths  seconds 
(five  and  a  half  minutes  less  than  that  of  the  red  spot). 
Although  the  latter  is  now  somewhat  faint,  the  white 
spot  gives  promise  of  remaining  visible  for  many 
years.  During  the  year  1886  a  large  number  of  ob- 
servations of  Jupiter  were  made  at  the  Dearborn 
Observatory,  Chicago,  U.  S.,  by  Prof.  G.  W.  Hough, 
using  the  eighteen-and-a-half-inch  refractor  of  the 
observatory.  Inasmuch  as  these  observations  are  not 
only  of  high  intrinsic  interest,  but  are  in  confiict,  to 
some  extent,  with  previous  records,  a  somewhat  full 
abstract  of  them  will  be  useful :  The  object  of  gen- 
eral interest  was  the  great  red  spot.  The  outline, 
19 


2Si  A  JOCRNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

shape,  and  size  of  this  remarkable  object  has  re- 
mained without  material  change  from  the  year  1879, 
when  it  was  first  observed  here,  until  the  present 
time.  According  to  our  observations,  during  the 
whole  of  this  period  it  has  shown  a  sharp  and  well- 
defined  outline,  and  at  no  time  has  it  coalesced  or 
been  joined  to  any  belt  in  its  proximity,  as  has  been 
alleged  by  some  observers.  During  the  year  1885 
the  middle  of  the  spot  was  very  much  paler  in  colour 
than  the  margins,  causing  it  to  appear  as  an  elliptical 
ring.  The  ring  form  has  continued  up  to  the  present 
time.  While  the  outline  of  the  spot  has  remained 
very  constant,  the  colour  has  changed  materially  from 
year  to  year.  During  the  past  three  years  (1884-'8r)) 
it  has  at  times  been  very  faint,  so  as  barely  to  be  vis- 
ible. The  persistence  of  this  object  for  so  many 
years  leads  me  to  infer  that  the  formerly  accepted 
theory,  that  the  phenomena  seen  on  the  surface  of 
the  planet  are  atmospheric,  is  no  longer  tenable.  The 
statement  so  often  made  in  text-books,  that  in  the 
course  of  a  few  days  or  months  the  whole  aspect  of 
the  planet  may  be  changed,  is  obviously  erroneous. 
The  oval  white  spots  on  the  southern  hemisphere  of 
the  planet,  nine  degrees  south  of  the  equator,  have 


THE  SCENE  SHIFTS.  285 

been  systematically  observed  at  every  opposition  dur- 
ing the  past  eiglit  years.  They  are  generally  found 
in  groups  of  three  or  more,  but  are  rather  difficult  to 
observe.  The  rotation  period  deduced  from  them  is 
nearly  the  same  as  from  the  great  red  spot.  These 
spots  usually  have  a  slow  drift  in  longitude  of  about 
five  seconds  daily  in  the  direction  of  the  planet's 
rotation,  when  referred  to  the  great  red  spot ;  cor- 
responding to  a  rotation  period  of  twenty  seconds  less 
than  the  latter.' 

"This  shows,"  continued  Bearwarden,  "that  as 
long  ago  as  towards  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury the  old  idea  that  we  saw  nothing  but  the  clouds 
in  Jupiter's  atmosphere  was  beginning  to  change; 
and  also  how  closely  the  two  English  writers  and 
Prof.  Hough  were  studying  the  subject,  though  their 
views  did  not  entirely  agree.  A  white  spot  is  merely 
a  storm-centre  passing  round  and  round  the  planet, 
the  wind  running  a  little  ahead  of  the  surface,  which 
accounts  for  its  rapid  rotation  compared  with  the  red 
spot,  which  is  a  fixture.  A  critic  may  say  we  have 
no  such  winds  on  earth ;  to  which  I  reply,  that  winds 
on  a  planet  of  Jupiter's  size,  with  its  rate  of  rotation 
—though  it  is  480,000,000  miles  from  the  sun  and 


2S6  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

the  internal  heat  is  so  near  the  surface — and  with 
land  and  water  arranged  as  they  are,  may  and  in- 
deed must  be  very  different  from  those  prevailing 
on  earth,  the  conditions  producing  and  affecting  them 
being  so  changed.  Though  the  storm-centre  moves 
two  hundred  and  sixty  miles  an  hour,  the  wind  need 
not  blow  at  that  rate." 

Later  they  saw  several  smaller  spots  drifting  east- 
ward, but  concluded  that  any  seaworthy  ship  might 
pass  safely  through  them,  for,  though  they  were 
hurricanes  of  great  violence,  the  waves  were 
small. 

''  There  would  be  less  danger,"  said  Bearwarden, 
"  of  shipping  seas  here  than  there  is  on  earth ;  the 
principal  risk  to  travellers  would  be  that  of  being 
blown  from  the  deck.  On  account  of  the  air's  weight 
in  connection  with  its  velocitj^,  this  would  necessitate, 
some  precaution." 

The  next  object  of  interest  w^as  the  great  red 
spot.  It  proved,  as  Cortlandt  had  predicted,  to  be  a 
continent,  with  at  that  time  no  special  colour,  though 
they  easily  recognized  it  by  comparing  its  outlines 
with  those  of  the  spot  in  the  map.  Its  length,  as 
they  already  knew,  was  twenty-seven  thousand  miles, 


THE  SCENE  SHIFTS.  287 

and  its  breadtli  about  eight  thousand  miles,  so  that 
it  contained  more  square  miles  than  the  entire  surface 
of  the  earth,  land  and  water  included. 

"  It  is  clear,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  that  at  some  sea- 
son of  Jupiter's  long  year  a  change  takes  place  that 
affects  the  colour  of  the  leaves — some  drought  or 
prolonged  norther ;  for  it  is  obvious  that  that  is  the 
simplest  explanation.  In  like  manner  we  may  ex- 
pect that  at  some  times  more  white  spots  will  move 
across  the  ocean  than  at  others." 

"  On  account  of  the  size  of  these  continents  and 
oceans,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  it  is  easy  to  believe  that 
many  climatic  conditions  may  prevail  here  that  can 
scarcely  exist  on  earth.  But  what  a  magnificent 
world  to  develop,  with  its  great  rivers,  lakes,  and 
mountains  showing  at  even  this  distance,  and  what 
natural  resources  must  be  lying  there  dormant, 
awaiting  our  call !  This  constantly  recurs  to  my 
mind.  The  subjugation  and  thorough  opening  up 
of  this  red  spot  continent  will  probably  supply  more 
interesting  problems  than  straightening  the  axis  of 
the  earth." 

"At  our  next  visit,"  replied  Ayrault,  "when 
we  have  established  regular  interplanetary  lines  of 


2SS  A  JOURNEY   IX   OTHER  WORLDS. 

travel,  we  may  have  an  opportunity  to  examine  it 
more  closely." 

Then  they  again  attracted  the  nearest  moon 
beyond  which  they  had  swung,  increased  the  repul- 
sion on  Jupiter,  and  soared  away  towards  Saturn. 

^'  We  have  a  striking  illustration  of  Jupiter's 
enormous  mass,"  said  Cortlandt,  as  the  apparent 
diameter  of  the  mighty  planet  rapidly  decreased,  "  in 
the  fact  that  notwithstanding  its  numerous  moons,  it 
still  rotates  so  rapidly.  We  know  that  the  earth's  days 
were  formerly  but  half  or  a  quarter  as  long  as  now, 
having  lasted  but  six  or  eight  hours.  The  explanation 
of  the  elongation  is  simple :  the  earth  rotates  in  about 
twenty-four  hours,  while  the  moon  encircles  it  but 
once  in  nearly  twenty-eight  days,  so  that  our  satellite 
is  continually  drawing  the  oceans  backward  against 
its  motion.  These  tidal  brakes  acting  through  the 
friction  of  the  w^ater  on  the  bottom,  its  unequal  pres- 
sure, and  the  impact  of  the  waves  on  the  shore,  are 
continually  retarding  its  rotation,  so  that  the  day  is  a 
fraction  of  a  second  lousier  now  than  it  was  in  the 
time  of  Csesar.  This  same  action  is  of  course  tak- 
ing place  in  Jupiter  and  the  great  planets,  in  this 
case  there  being  five  moons  at  work.     Our  moon,  we 


THE  SCENE  SHIFTS.  289 

know,  rotates  on  its  axis  but  once  while  it  revolves 
about  the  earth,  this  being  no  doubt  due  to  its  own 
comparative  smallness  and  the  great  attraction  of 
the  earth,  which  must  have  produced  tremendous 
tides  before  the  lunar  oceans  disappeared  from  its 

surface." 

In  crossing  the  orbits  of  the  satellites,  they 
passed  near  Ganymede,  Jupiter's  largest  moon. 

"This,"  said  Cortlandt,  "was  discovered  by 
Galileo  in  1610.  It  is  three  thousand  four  hundred 
and  eighty  miles  in  diameter,  while  our  moon  is  but 
two  thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty,  revolves  at  a 
distance  of  six  hundred  and  seventy-eight  thousand 
three  hundred  miles  from  Jupiter,  completes  its  revo- 
lution in  seven  days  and  four  hours,  and  has  a  spe- 
cific gravity  of  1'87." 

In  passing,  they  observed  that  Ganymede  pos- 
sessed an  atmosphere,  and  continents  and  oceans  of 
large  area. 

"  Here,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  we  have  a  body  with 
a  diameter  about  five  hundred  miles  greater  than  the 
planet  Mercury.  Its  size,  light  specific  gravity,  at- 
mosphere, and  oceans  seem  to  indicate  that  it  is  less 
advanced  than  that  planet,  yet  you  think  Jupiter  has 


290  A  JOURXEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

liad  a  longer  separate  existence  than  the  ])lanets  nearer 
the  sun  ? " 

''Undoubtedly,"  said  Cortlandt.  "Jupiter  was 
condensed  while  in  the  solar-system  nebula,  and  be- 
gan its  individual  existence  and  its  evolutionary 
career  long  before  Mercury  was  formed.  The  mat- 
ter now  in  Ganymede,  however,  doubtless  remained 
part  of  the  Jupiter-system  nebula  till  after  Mercury's 
creation,  and,  being  part  of  so  great  a  mass,  did  not 
cool  very  rapidly.  I  should  say  that  this  satellite  has 
about  the  same  relation  to  Jupiter  that  Jupiter  has  to 
the  sun,  and  is  therefore  younger  in  point  of  time  as 
well  as  of  development  than  the  most  distant  Callisto, 
and  older,  at  all  events  in  years,  than  Europa  and  lo, 
both  of  which  are  nearer.  This  supposition  is  cor- 
roborated by  the  fact  that  Europa,  the  smallest  of 
these  four,  is  also  the  densest,  having  a  specific  grav- 
ity of  2'14,  its  smallness  having  enabled  it  to  overtake 
Ganymede  in  development,  notwithstanding  the  lat- 
ter's  start.  In  the  face  of  the  evidence  before  us  we 
must  believe  this,  or  else  that,  perhaps,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  asteroid  Hilda,  something  like  a  collision  has 
rejuvenated  it.  This  might  account  for  its  size,  and 
for  the  Xautical  Almanac's  statement  that  there  is  a 


THE  SCENE  SHIFTS.  291 

'  small  and  variable '  inclination  to  its  orbit,  while  lo 
and  Europa  revolve  exactly  in  tlie  plane  of  Jupiter's 
equator." 

They  had  about  as  long  a  journey  before  them  as 
they  had  already  made  in  going  from  the  earth  to 
Jupiter.  The  great  planet  soon  appeared  as  a  huge 
crescent,  since  it  was  between  them  and  the  sun ;  its 
moons  became  as  fifth-  and  sixth-magnitude  stars,  and 
in  the  evening  of  the  next  day  Jupiter's  disk  became 
invisible  to  the  unaided  eye.  Since  there  were  no 
way  stations,  in  the  shape  of  planets  or  asteroids,  be- 
tween Jupiter  and  Saturn,  they  kept  the  maximum 
repulsion  on  Jupiter  as  long  as  possible,  and  moved 
at  tremendous  speed.  Saturn  was  somewhat  in  ad- 
vance of  Jupiter  in  its  orbit,  so  that  their  course  from 
the  earth  had  been  along  two  sides  of  a  triangle  with 
an  obtuse  angle  between.  During  the  next  four  ter- 
restrial days  they  sighted  several  small  comets,  but 
spent  most  of  their  time  writing  out  their  Jovian 
experiences.  During  the  sixth  day  Saturn's  rings, 
although  not  as  much  tilted  as  they  would  be  later  in 
the  planet's  season,  presented  a  most  superb  sight, 
while  they  spun  in  the  sun's  rays.  Soon  after  this 
the  eight  moons  became  visible,  and,  while  slightly 


292  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

reducing  the  Callisto's  sj^eed,  they  crossed  the  orbits 
of  lapetus,  Hyperion,  and  Titan,  when  they  knew 
they  were  but  sev^en  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  miles 
from  Saturn. 

"  I  am  anxious  to  ascertain,"  said  Cortlandt, 
"  whether  the  comjDOsition  of  yonder  rings  is  simi- 
lar to  that  of  the  comet  through  which  we  passed. 
I  am  sure  they  shine  with  more  than  reflected  light.'' 

"  We  have  been  in  the  habit,"  said  Ayrault,  "  of 
associating  heat  with  light,  but  it  is  obvious  there  is 
something  far  more  subtle  about  cometary  light  and 
that  of  Saturn's  rings,  both  of  which  seem  to  have 
their  birth  in  the  intense  cold  of  interplanetary 
space." 

Passing  close  to  Mimas,  Saturn's  nearest  moon, 
they  supplemented  its  attraction,  after  swinging  by, 
by  their  own  strong  pull,  bringing  their  sjDced  down 
to  dead  slow  as  they  entered  the  outside  ring.  At 
distances  often  of  half  a  mile  they  found  meteoric 
masses,  sometimes  lumps  the  size  of  a  house,  often 
no  larger  than  apples,  while  small  particles  like  grains 
of  sand  moved  between  them.  There  were  two  mo- 
tions. The  ring  revolved  about  Saturn,  and  the  par- 
ticles   vibrated    among    themselves,   evidently    kept 


THE  SCENE  SHIFTS.  293 

apart  by  a  mutual  repulsion,  wliicli  seemed  both  to 
increase  and  decrease  faster  than  gravitation ;  for  on 
approaching  one  another  they  were  more  strongly 
repelled  than  attracted,  but  when  they  separated  the 
repulsion  decreased  faster  than  the  attraction,  so  that 
after  a  time  divergence  ceased,  and  they  remained  at 
fixed  distances. 

The  Callisto  soon  became  imbued  with  motion 
also,  but  nothing  ever  struck  it.  When  any  large 
mass  came  unusually  near,  both  it  and  their  car 
emitted  light,  and  they  rapidly  separated.  The  sun- 
light was  not  as  strong  here  as  it  had  been  when  they 
entered  the  comet,  and  as  they  penetrated  farther 
they  were  better  able  to  observe  the  omnipresent 
luminosity.  They  were  somewhat  puzzled  by  the 
approach  of  certain  light-centres,  which  seemed  to 
contain  nothing  but  this  concentrated  brightness. 
Occasionally  one  of  these  centres  would  glow  very 
brightly  near  them,  and  simultaneously  recede.  At 
such  times  the  Callisto  also  glowed,  and  itself  recoiled 
slightly.  At  first  the  travellers  could  not  account  for 
this,  but  finally  they  concluded  that  the  centres  must 
be  meteoric  masses  consisting  entirely  of  gases,  pos- 
sessing weight  though  invisible. 


204  A  JOLTRNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

"  Vv^e  have  again  to  face,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  that 
singular  law  that  till  recently  we  did  not  suppose  ex- 
isted on  earth.  All  kinds  of  suppositions  have  been 
advanced  in  explanation  of  these  .  rings.  Some 
writers  have  their  thickness,  looked  at  from  the  thin 
edge,  as  four  hundred  miles,  some  one  hundred,  and 
some  but  forty.  One  astronomer  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  a  man  of  considerable  eminence,  was  con- 
vinced that  they  consisted  of  sheets  of  liquid.  I^ow, 
it  should  be  obvious  that  no  liquid  could  maintain 
itself  here  for  a  minute,  for  it  would  either  fall  upon 
the  planet  as  a  crushing  hail,  or,  if  dependent  for  its 
shape  on  its  own  tenacity,  it  would  break  if  formed 
of  the  toughest  steel,  on  account  of  the  tremendous 
weight.  Any  number  of  theories  have  been  ad- 
vanced by  any  number  of  men,  but  in  weight  we 
have  the  rub.  'No  one  has  ever  shown  how  these  in- 
numerable fragments  maintain  themselves  at  a  height 
of  but  a  few  thousand  miles  above  Saturn,  withstand- 
ing the  giant's  gravitation-pull.  Their  rate  of  revo- 
lution, though  rapid,  does  not  seem  fast  enough  to 
sustain  them.  Neither  have  I  ever  seen  it  explained 
why  the  small  fragments  do  not  fall  upon  the  large 
ones,  though   many  astronomers   have  pictured  the 


THE  SCENE  SHIFTS.  295 

composition  of  these  rings  as  we  find  they  exist. 
Nor  do  we  know  why  the  molecules  of  a  gas  are 
driven  farther  apart  by  heat,  while  their  activity  is 
also  increased,  though  if  this  activity  were  revolution 
about  one  another  to  develop  the  centrifugal,  it 
would  not  need  to  be  as  strong  then  as  when  they  are 
cold  and  nearer  together.  There  may  be  explana- 
tions, but  I  have  found  none  in  any  of  the  literature 
I  have  read.  It  seems  to  me  that  all  this  leads  to  but 
one  conclusion,  viz.  :  apergy  is  the  constant  and 
visible  companion  of  gravitation,  on  these  great 
planets  Jupiter  and  Saturn,  perhaps  on  account  of 
some  peculiar  influence  they  possess,  and  also  in 
comets,  in  the  case  of  large  masses,  while  on  earth  it 
appears  naturally  only  among  molecules — those  of 
gases  and  every  other  substance." 

"  I  should  go  a  step  further,"  said  Bearwarden, 
"  and  say  our  earth  has  the  peculiarity,  since  it  does 
not  possess  the  influence  necessary  to  generate  nat- 
urally a  great  or  even  considerable  development 
of  apergy.  The  electricity  of  thunderstorms, 
northern  lights,  and  other  forces  seems  to  be  pro- 
duced freely,  but  as  regards  apergy  our  planet's 
natural  productiveness  appears  to  be  small." 


296  A  JOURXEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

The  omnipresent  luminosity  continued,  but  the 
glow  was  scarcely  bright  enough  to  be  perceived 
from  the  earth. 

"  I  believe,  however,"  said  Bearwarden,  referring 
to  this,  "  that  whenever  a  satellite  passes  near  these 
fragments,  preferably  when  it  enters  the  planet's 
shadow,  since  that  wdll  remove  its  own  light,  it  will 
create  such  activity  among  them  as  to  make  the 
luminosity  visible  to  the  large  telescopes  or  gelatine 
plates  on  earth." 

"  Kow,"  said  Ayrault,  "  that  we  have  evolved 
enough  theories  to  keep  astronomers  busy  for  some 
time,  if  they  attempt  to  discuss  them,  I  suggest  that 
we  alight  and  leave  the  abstract  for  the  concrete." 

AVhereupon  they  passed  through  the  inner  ring 
and  rapidly  sank  to  the  ground. 


BOOK    III 


(297) 


CHAPTEE  I. 


SATURN. 


Landing-  on  a  place  about  ten  degrees  north  of 
tlie  equator,  so  that  tliey  might  obtain  a  good  view  of 
the  great  rings — since  on  the  line  only  the  thin  edge 
would  be  visible — they  opened  a  port-hole  with  the 
same  caution  they  had  exercised  on  Jupiter.  Again 
there  was  a  rush  of  air,  showing  that  the  pressure 
without  was  greater  than  that  within ;  but  on  this 
occasion  the  barometer  stopped  at  thirty-eight,  from 
which  they  calculated  that  the  pressure  was  nineteen 
pounds  to  the  square  inch  on  their  bodies,  instead  of 
fifteen  as  at  sea-level  on  earth.  This  difference  was 
so  slight  that  they  scarcely  felt  it.  They  also  dis- 
carded the  apergetic  outfits  that  had  been  so  useful 
on  Jupiter,  as  unnecessary  here.  The  air  was  an  icy 
blast,  and  though  they  quickly  closed  the  opening, 
the  interior  of  the  Callisto  was  considerably  chilled. 

20  (209) 


300  A  JOURNEY   IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

"  AVe  shall  want  our  winter  clothes,''  said  Bear- 
warden  ;  ''  it  might  be  more  comfortable  for  ns  ex- 
actly on  the  equator,  though  the  scene  at  night  will 
be  far  liner  here,  if  we  can  stand  the  climate.  Doubt- 
less it  will  also  be  warmer  soon,  for  the  sun  has  but 
just  risen." 

"  I  suspect  this  is  merely  one  of  the  cold  waves 
that  rush  towards  the  equator  at  this  season,  which 
corresponds  to  about  the  lOtli  of  our  September," 
replied  Cortlandt.  "  The  poles  of  Saturn  must  be 
intensely  cold  during  its  long  winter  of  fourteen  and 
three  quarter  years,  for,  the  axis  being  inclined 
twenty-seven  degrees  from  the  perpendicular  of  its 
orbit,  the  pole  turned  from  the  sun  is  more  shut  off 
from  its  heat  than  ours,  and  in  addition  to  this  the 
mean  distance — more  than  eight  hundred  and  eighty 
million  miles — is  very  great.  Since  the  chemical 
composition  of  the  air  we  have  inhaled  has  not 
troubled  our  lungs,  it  is  fair  to  suppose  we  shall 
have  no  difficulty  in  breathing." 

Having  dressed  themselves  more  warmly,  and 
seen  by  a  thermometer  they  had  placed  outside  that 
tlie  temperature  was  thirty-eight  degrees  Fahren- 
heit, which  had  seemed  very  cold  compared  with  the 


SATURN.  301 

warmth  inside  the  Calhsto,  they  again  opened  the 
port-hole,  this  time  leaving  it  open  longer.  What 
they  had  felt  before  was  evidently  merely  a  sudden 
gust,  for  the  air  was  now  comparatively  calm. 

Finding  that  the  doctor's  prediction  as  to  the 
suitability  of  the  air  to  their  lungs  was  correct,  they 
ventured  out,  closing  the  door  as  they  went. 

Expecting,  as  on  Jupiter,  to  find  principally  verte- 
brates of  the  reptile  and  bird  order,  they  carried  guns 
and  cartridges  loaded  with  buckshot  and  'No.  1, 
trusting  for  solid-ball  projectiles  to  their  revolvers, 
which  they  shoved  into  their  belts.  They  also  took 
test-tubes  for  experiments  on  the  Saturnian  bacilli. 
Hanging  a  bucket  under  the  pipe  leading  from  the 
roof,  to  catch  any  rain  that  might  fall— for  they  re- 
membered the  scarcity  of  drinking-water  on  Jupiter 
— they  set  out  in  a  southwesterly  direction. 

Walking  along,  they  noticed  on  all  sides  tall 
liHes  immaculately  pure  in  their  whiteness,  and 
mushrooms  and  toadstools  nearly  a  foot  high,  the 
former  having  a  delicious  flavour  and  extreme  fresh- 
ness, as  though  only  an  hour  old.  They  had  seen  no 
animal  life,  or  even  sign  of  it,  and  were  wondering 
at  its  dearth,  when  suddenly  two  large  white  birds 


302  A  JOURNEY  IX   OTHER  WORLDS. 

rose  directly  in  front  of  tliem.  Like  tlioiiglit,  Bear- 
warden  and  Ayrault  had  tlieir  guns  np,  snapping  the 
thumb-pieces  over  "safe"  and  pulhng  the  triggers 
ahnost  simuUaneously.  Bearwarden,  having  double 
buckshot,  killed  his  bird  at  the  first  iire ;  but  Ayrault, 
having  only  Xo.  1,  had  to  give  his  the  second 
barrel,  almost  all  damage  in  both  cases  being  in  the 
head.  On  coming  close  to  their  victims  they  found 
them  to  measure  twelve  feet  from  tip  to  tip,  and  to 
have  a  tremendous  thickness  of  feathers  and  down. 

"  From  the  looks  of  these  beauties,"  said  Bear- 
warden,  "  I  should  say  they  probably  inhabited  a 
pretty  cold  place." 

"  They  are  doubtless  northern  birds,"  said  Cort- 
landt,  "  that  have  just  come  south.  It  is  easy  to  be- 
lieve that  the  depth  to  which  the  temperature  may 
fall  in  the  upper  air  of  this  planet  must  be  something 
startling." 

As  they  turned  from  the  cranes,  to  which  species 
the  birds  seemed  to  belong,  they  became  mute  with 
astonishment.  Every  mushroom  had  disappeared, 
but  the  toadstools  still  remained. 

"  Is  it  possible  we  did  not  see  them  ? "  gas])ed 
Ayrault. 


SATURN.  303 

"We  must  inadvertently  Lave  walked  some  dis- 
tance since  we  saw  them,"  said  Cortlandt. 

"  They  were  what  I  looked  forward  to  for  lunch," 
exclaimed  Bear  warden. 

They  were  greatly  perplexed.  The  mushrooms 
were  all  about  them  when  they  shot  the  birds,  which 
still  lay  where  they  had  fallen. 

"  We  must  be  very  absent-minded,"  said  the  doc- 
tor, "  or  perchance  our  brains  are  affected  by  the  air. 
We  must  analyze  it  to  see  if  it  contains  our  own  pro- 
portion of  oxygen  and  nitrogen.  There  was  a  good 
deal  of  carbonic-acid  gas  on  Jupiter,  but  that  would 
hardly  confuse  our  senses.  The  strange  thing  is,  that 
we  all  seem  to  have  been  impressed  the  same  way." 

Concluding  that  they  must  have  been  mistaken, 
they  continued  on  their  journey. 

All  about  they  heard  a  curious  humming,  as  that 
of  bees,  or  like  the  murmuring  of  prayers  in  a  reso- 
nant cathedral.  Thinking  it  was  the  wind  in  the 
great  trees  that  grew  singly  around  them,  they  paid 
no  attention  to  it  until,  emerging  on  an  open  plain 
and  finding  that  the  sound  continued,  they  stopped. 

"  Now,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  this  is  more  curious 
than  anything  we  found  on  Jupiter.     Here  we  have 


304  A   JOUKNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

an  incessant  and  rather  pleasant  sound,  with  no  visi- 
ble cause." 

"  It  may  possibly  be  some  peculiarity  of  the  grass," 
replied  Cortlandt,  *'  though,  should  it  continue  when 
we  reach  sandy  or  bare  soil,  I  shall  believe  we  need  a 
dose  of  quinine." 

'"  I  feel'  perfectly  well,"  said  Ayrault ;  "  how  is  it 
with  you  ? " 

Each  finding  that  he  was  in  a  normal  state,  they 
proceeded,  determined,  if  possible,  to  discover  the 
source  from  which  the  sounds  came.  Suddenly  Bear- 
warden  raised  his  gun  to  bring  down  a  long-beaked 
hawk ;  but  the  bird  flew  off,  and  he  did  not  shoot. 
"  Plague  the  luck  I  "  said  he  ;  '*  I  went  blind  just  as 
I  was  about  to  pull.  A  haze  seemed  to  cover  both 
barrels,  and  completely  screened  the  bird." 

''  The  Callisto  will  soon  be  hidden  by  those  trees," 
said  Cortlandt.  "  I  think  we  had  better  take  our  bear- 
ings, for,  if  our  crack  shot  is  going  to  miss  like  that, 
we  may  want  canned  provisions." 

Accordingly,  he  got  out  his  sextant,  took  the  alti- 
tude of  the  sun,  got  cross-bearings  and  a  few  angles, 
and  began  to  make  a  rough  calculation.  For  several 
minutes  he  worked  industriously,  used  the  rubber  at 


SATURN.  305 

the  end  of  his  pencil,  tried  again,  and  then  scratched 
out.  ''  That  humming  confuses  me  so  that  I  cannot 
work  correctly,"  said  he,  "  while  the  most  irrelevant 
things  enter  my  mind  in  spite  of  me,  and  mix  up  my 
figures." 

"  I  found  the  same  thing,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  but 
said  nothing,  for  fear  I  should  not  be  believed.  In 
addition  to  going  blind,  for  a  moment  I  almost  forgot 
what  I  was  trying  to  do." 

Changing  their  course  slightly,  they  went  towards 
a  range  of  hills,  in  the  hope  of  finding  rocky  or 
sandy  soil,  in  order  to  test  the  sounds,  and  ascertain 
if  they  would  cease  or  vary. 

Having  ascended  a  few  hundred  feet,  they  sat 
down  near  some  trees  to  rest,  the  musical  hum  con- 
tinuing meanwhile  unchanged.  The  ground  was 
strewn  with  large  coloured  crystals,  apparently  ru- 
bies, sapphires,  and  emeralds,  about  the  size  of  hens' 
eggs,  and  also  large  sheets  of  isinglass.  Picking  up 
one  of  the  latter,  Ayrault  examined  it.  Points  of 
light  and  shade  kept  forming  on  its  surface,  from 
w^hich  rings  radiated  like  the  circles  spreading  in  all 
directions  from  a  place  in  still  water  at  which  a  peb- 
ble is  thrown.     He  called  his  companions,  and  the 


306  A  JOURNEY   IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

three  examined  it.  The  isinglass  was  about  ten  inches 
long  by  eight  across,  and  contained  but  few  impuri- 
ties. In  addition  to  the  spreading  rings,  curious 
forms  were  continually  taking  shape  and  dissolving. 

''  This  is  more  interesting,"  said  Bearwarden, 
^'than  sounding  shells  at  the  sea-shore.  We  must 
make  a  note  of  it  as  another  thing  to  study." 

They  then  spread  their  handkerchiefs  on  a  mound 
of  earth,  so  as  to  make  a  table,  and  began  examining 
the  gems. 

"  Does  it  not  seem  to  you,"  asked  Ayrault,  a  few 
minutes  later,  addressing  his  companions,  "  as  though 
Ave  were  not  alone  ?  I  have  thought  many  times 
there  was  some  one — or  perhaps  several  persons — 
here  besides  ourselves." 

"  The  same  idea  has  occurred  to  me,"  replied 
Cortlandt.  "  I  was  convinced,  a  moment  ago,  that  a 
shadow  crossed  the  page  on  which  I  was  taking 
notes.  Can  it  be  there  are  objects  about  us  we  can- 
not see?  We  know  there  are  vibrations  of  both 
light  and  sound  that  do  not  affect  our  senses.  I  wish 
we  had  brought  the  magnetic  eye ;  perchance  that 
might  tell  us." 

"  Anything  sufficiently  dense  to  cast  a  shadow," 


SATURN.  307 

said  Ayrault,  "  sliould  be  seen,  since  it  would  also  be 
able  to  make  an  image  on  our  retinas.  I  believe  any 
impressions  we  are  receiving  are  produced  tlirough 
our  minds,  as  if  some  one  were  thinking  very  intent- 
ly about  us,  and  that  neither  the  magnetic  eye  nor  a 
sensitive  plate  could  reveal  anything." 

They  then  returned  to  the  study  of  the  isinglass, 
which  they  were  able  to  s]3lit  into  extremelj^  thin 
sheets.  Suddenly  a  cloud  passed  over  the  table,  and 
almost  immediately  disappeared,  and  then  a  shar23ened 
pencil  with  which  Ayrault  had  been  writing  began 
to  trace  on  a  sheet  of  paper,  in  an  even  hand,  and 
with  a  slight  frictional  sound. 

"  Stop  !  "  said  Bearwarden  ;  "  let  us  each  for  him- 
self describe  in  writing  what  he  has  seen." 

In  a  moment  they  had  done  this,  and  then  com- 
pared notes.  In  each  case  the  vision  was  the  same. 
Then  they  looked  at  the  writing  made  by  the  invisi- 
ble hand.     ^'Absor^ta  est  mors  in  mctoria^^  it  ran. 

''  Gentlemen,"  began  Bearwarden,  as  if  address- 
ing a  meeting,  "  this  cannot  be  coincidence ;  we  are 
undoubtedly  and  unquestionably  in  the  presence  of  a 
spirit  or  of  several  spirits.  That  they  understand 
Latin,  we  see ;  and,  from  what  they  say,  they  may 


30S  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

have  known  death.  Time  may  show  whether  they 
have  been  terrestrials  like  ourselves.  Though  the 
conditions  of  life  here  might  make  us  delirious,  it  is 
scarcely  possible  that  different  temperaments  like 
ours  should  be  affected  in  so  precisely  the  same  way ; 
besides,  in  this  writing  we  have  tangible  proof." 

"It  is  perfectly  reasonable,"  said  Ayrault,  "to 
conclude  it  was  a  spirit,  if  we  may  assume  that  spirits 
have  the  power  to  move  the  pencil,  which  is  a  ma- 
terial object.  Nobody  doubts  nowadays  that  after 
death  we  live  again ;  that  being  the  case,  we  must 
admit  that  we  live  somewhere.  Space,  as  I  take  it, 
can  be  no  obstacle  to  a  spirit ;  therefore,  why  sup- 
pose they  remain  on  earth  ? " 

"This  is  a  w^onderful  place,"  said  Cortlandt. 
"We  have  already  seen  enough  to  convince  us  of 
the  existence  of  many  unknown  laws.  I  wish  the 
spirit  would  reveal  itself  in  some  other  way." 

As  he  finished  speaking,  the  rays  of  the  distant 
and  cold-looking  sun  were  split,  and  the  colours  of 
the  spectrum  danced  upon  the  linen  cloth,  as  if  ob- 
tained by  a  prism.  In  astonishment,  they  rose  and 
looked  closely  at  the  table,  when  suddenly  a  shadow 
that  no  one  recognized  as  his  own  ap])eared  upon  the 


SATURN.  309 

cover.  Tracing  it  to  its  source,  their  eyes  met  those 
of  an  old  man  with  a  white  robe  and  beard  and  a 
look  of  great  intelligence  on  his  calm  face.  They 
knew  he  had  not  been  in  the  little  grove  thirty  sec- 
onds before,  and  as  this  was  surrounded  by  open 
country  there  was  no  place  from  which  he  could 
have  come. 


CHAPTEK  II. 


THE   SPIRIT  S    FIRST    VISIT. 


"  Greetings  and  congratulations,"  he  said.  "  Man 
has  steadfastly  striven  to  rise,  and  we  see  the  results 
in  you." 

"  I  have  always  believed  in  the  existence  of  spir- 
its," said  Cortlandt,  "  but  never  expected  to  see  one 
with  my  natural  eyes." 

"  And  you  never  will,  in  its  spiritual  state,"  re- 
plied the  shade,  "  unless  you  supplement  sight  with 
reason.  A  spirit  has  merely  existence,  entity,  and 
will,  and  is  entirely  invisible  to  your  eyes," 

"  How  is  it,  then,  that  we  see  and  hear  you  ? " 
asked  Cortlandt.  "Are  you  a  man,  or  a  spectre  that 
is  able  to  affect  our  senses  ?  " 

"  I  icas  a  man,"  replied  the  spirit,  "  and  I  have 
given  myself  visible  and  tangible  form  to  warn  you 
of  danger.     My  colleagues  and  I  watched  you  when 

(310) 


THE  SPIRIT'S  FIRST  VISIT.  311 

you  left  the  cylinder  and  when  you  shot  the  birds, 
and,  seeing  your  doom  in  the  air,  have  been  trying  to 
communicate  with  you." 

"What  were  the  strange  shadows  and  prismatic 
colours  that  kept  passing  across  our  table  ? "  asked 
Bearwarden. 

"They  were  the  obstructions  and  refractions  of 
light  caused  by  spirits  trying  to  take  shape,"  replied 

the  shade. 

"  Do  you  mind  our  asking  you  questions  ? "  said 

Cortlandt. 

"  No,"  replied  their  visitor.  "  If  I  can,  I  will  an- 
swer them." 

"Then,"  said  Cortlandt,  '4iow  is  it  that,  of  the 
several  spirits  that  tried  to  become  embodied,  we  see 
but  one,  namely,  you  ? " 

"  That,"  said  the  shade,  "  is  because  no  natural 
law  is  broken.  On  earth  one  man  can  learn  a  handi- 
craft better  in  a  few  days  than  another  in  a  month, 
while  some  can  solve  with  ease  a  mathematical  prob- 
lem that  others  could  never  grasp.  So  it  is  here. 
Perhaps  I  w^as  in  a  favourable  frame  of  mind  on  dy- 
ing, for  the  so-called  supernatural  always  interested 
me  on  earth,  or  I  had  a  natural  aptitude  for  these 


312  A  JOURNEY  IX   OTHER   WORLDS. 

tliiugs ;  for  soon  after  death  I  was  able  to  affect  tlie 
senses  of  the  friends  I  had  left." 

"  Are  we  to  understand,  then,"  asked  Cortlandt, 
"  that  the  reason  more  of  our  departed  do  not  reap- 
pear to  us  is  because  thej  cannot  ? " 

''  Precisely,"  replied  the  shade.  "  But  though  the 
percentage  of  those  that  can  return  and  reappear  on 
earth  is  small,  their  number  is  fairly  large.  History 
has  many  cases,  ^"e  know  that  the  prophet  Samuel 
raised  the  witch  of  Endor  at  the  ])ehest  of  Saul ;  that 
Moses  and  Elias  became  visible  in  the  transfiguration ; 
and  that  after  his  crucifixion  and  burial  Christ  re- 
turned to  his  disciples,  and  was  seen  and  heard  by 
many  others." 

"  How,"  asked  Bearwarden  deferentially,  '*  do  you 
occupy  your  time  ? " 

"  Time,"  replied  the  spirit,  "  has  not  the  same  sig- 
nificance to  us  that  it  has  to  you.  You  know  that 
while  the  earth  rotates  in  twenty -four  hours,  this 
planet  takes  but  about  ten  ;  and  the  sun  turns  on  its 
own  axis  but  once  in  a  terrestrial  month ;  while  the 
years  of  the  planets  vary  from  less  than  three 
months  for  Mercury  to  Xeptune's  one  hundred  and 
sixty -four  years.     Being  insensible  to  heat  and  cold, 


THE  SPIRIT'S  FIRST  VISIT.  313 

darkness  and  light,  we  have  no  more  changing  sea- 
sons, neither  is  there  any  night.  When  a  man  dies," 
he  continued  with  solemnity,  "  he  comes  at  once  into 
the  enjoyment  of  senses  vastly  keener  than  any  he 
possessed  before.  Our  eyes — if  such  they  can  be 
called — are  both  microscopes  and  telescopes,  the 
change  in  focus  being  ejffected  as  instantaneously  as 
thought,  enabling  us  to  perceive  the  smallest  microbe 
or  disease-germ,  and  to  see  the  planets  that  revolve 
about  the  stars.  The  step  of  a  fly  is  to  us  as  audible 
as  the  tramp  of  a  regiment,  while  we  hear  the 
mechanical  and  chemical  action  of  a  snake's  poi- 
son on  the  blood  of  any  poor  creature  bitten,  as 
plainly  as  the  waves  on  the  shore.  We  also  have  a 
chemical  and  electrical  sense,  showing  us  what  effect 
different  substances  will  have  on  one  another,  and 
what  changes  to  expect  in  the  weather.  The  most 
complex  and  subtle  of  our  senses,  however,  is  a  sort 
of  second  sight  that  we  call  intuition  or  prescience, 
which  we  are  still  studying  to  perfect  and  understand. 
AYith  our  eyes  closed  it  reveals  to  us  approaching  as- 
tronomical and  other  bodies,  or  what  is  happening  on 
the  other  side  of  the  planet,  and  enables  us  to  view 
the  future  as  you  do  the  past.     The  eyes  of  all  but 


314:  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

the  highest  angels  require  some  light,  and  can  be 
dazzled  by  an  excess  ;  but  this  attribute  of  divinity 
nothing  can  obscure,  and  it  is  the  sense  that  will  first 
enable  us  to  know  God.  By  means  of  these  new  and 
sharpened  faculties,  which,  like  children,  we  are  con- 
tinually learning  to  use  to  better  advantage,  we  con- 
stantly increase  our  knowledge,  and  this  is  next  to 
our  greatest  happiness." 

"  Is  there  any  limit,"  asked  Bearwarden,  "  to 
human  progress  on  the  earth  ?  " 

"  Practically  none,"  replied  the  spirit.  "  Progress 
depends  largely  on  your  command  of  the  forces  of 
Kature.  At  present  your  principal  sources  of 
power  are  food,  fuel,  electricity,  the  heat  of  the  in- 
terior of  the  earth,  wind,  and  tide.  From  the  first 
two  you  cannot  expect  much  more  than  now,  but 
from  the  internal  heat  everywhere  available,  trade- 
winds,  and  falling  water,  as  at  Niagara,  and  from 
tides,  you  can  obtain  power  almost  without  limit. 
Were  this  all,  however,  your  progress  would  be  slow ; 
but  the  Eternal,  realizing  the  shortness  of  your  lives, 
has  given  you  power  with  which  to  rend  the  globe. 
You  have  the  action  of  all  uncombined  chemicals, 
atmospheric  electricity,  the  excess  or  froth  of  which 


THE  SPIRIT'S  FIRST  VISIT.  315 

you  now  see  iu  thunderstorms,  and  the  electricity  and 
magnetism  of  your  own  bodies.  There  is  also  mo- 
lecular and  sympathetic  vibration,  by  which  Joshua 
not  understandingly  levelled  the  w^alls  of  Jericho  ; 
and  the  power  of  your  minds  over  matter,  but  little 
more  developed  now  than  when  I  moved  in  the  flesh 
upon  the  earth.  By  lowering  large  quantities  of 
high-powered  explosives  to  the  deepest  parts  of  the 
ocean  bed,  and  exploding  them  there,  you  can  pro- 
duce chasms  through  which  some  water  will  be 
forced  towards  the  heated  interior  by  the  enormous 
pressure  of  its  own  weight.  At  a  comparatively 
slight  depth  it  will  be  converted  into  steam  and  pro- 
duce an  earthquake.  This  will  so  enlarge  your 
chasm,  that  a  great  volume  of  water  will  rush  into 
the  red-hot  interior,  which  will  cause  a  series  of  such 
terrific  eruptions  that  large  islands  will  be  upheaved. 
By  the  reduction  of  the  heat  of  that  part  of  the  in- 
terior there  will  also  be  a  shrinkage,  which,  in  con- 
nection -with  the  explosions,  will  cause  the  earth's 
solid  crust  to  be  thrown  up  in  folds  til]  whole  conti- 
nents appear.  Some  of  the  water  displaced  by  the 
new  land  will  also,  as  a  result  of  the  cooling,  be  able 

permanently  to  penetrate  farther,  thereby  decreasing 
21 


31 G  A  JOURNEY   IN   OTHER   WORLDS. 

by  that  much  tlie  amount  of  water  in  the  oceans,  so 
that  the  tide-level  in  your  existing  seaports  will  be 
but  slightly  changed.  By  persevering  in  this  work, 
you  will  become  so  skilled  that  it  will  be  possible  to 
evoke  land  of  whatever  kind  you  wish,  at  any  place ; 
and  by  having  high  table-land  at  the  equator,  sloping 
off  into  low  plains  towards  north  and  south,  and 
maintaining  volcanoes  in  eruption  at  the  poles  to 
throw  out  heat  and  start  warm  ocean  currents,  it  will 
be  possible,  in  connection  with  the  change  you  are 
now  making  in  the  axis,  to  render  the  conditions  of 
life  so  easy  that  the  earth  will  support  a  far  larger 
number  of  souls. 

"  With  the  powers  at  your  disposal  you  can  also 
alter  and  improve  existing  continents,  and  thereby 
still  further  increase  the  number  of  the  children  of 
men.  Perhaps  with  mild  climate,  fertile  soil,  and  de- 
creased struggle  for  existence,  man  will  develop  his 
spiritual  side. 

"  Finally,  you  have  apergy,  one  of  the  highest 
forces,  for  it  puts  you  almost  on  a  plane  with  angels, 
and  with  it  you  have  already  visited  Jupiter  and 
Saturn.  It  was  impossible  that  man  should  remain 
chained  to  the  earth  durinc:  the  entire  life  of  his  race. 


THE  SPIRIT'S  FIRST   VISIT.  317 

like  an  inferior  animal   or  a  mineral,  lower  even  in 
freedom  of  body  than  birds.     Heretofore  you  have, 
as  I  have  said,  seen  but  one  side  in  many  workings  of 
Nature,  as  if  you  had  discovered  either  negative  or 
positive  electricity,  but  not  both  ;  for  gravitation  and 
apergy  are  as  inseparably  combined  in  the  rest  of  the 
universe  as  those  two,  separated  temporarily  on  earth 
that  the  discovery  of  the  utilization  of  one  with  the 
other  might   serve   as  an  incentive  to  your  minds. 
You  saw  it   in   :N'ature  on  Jupiter   in   the    case    of 
several  creatures,  suspecting  it  in  the  boa-constrictor 
and  Will-o'-the-wisp  and  jelly-fish,  and  have  standing 
illustrations  of  it  in  all  tailed  comets— luminosity  in 
the  case  of  large  bodies  being  one  manifestation— in 
the  rings  of  this  planet,  and  in  the  molecular  motion 
and  porosity  of  all  gases,  liquids,  and  solids  on  earth ; 
since  what  else  is  it  that  keeps  the  molecules  apart, 
heat   serving    merely    to   increase  its   power  ?     God 
made  man  in  his   own  image  ;  does  it  not  stand  to 
reason  that  he  will  allow  him  to  continue  to  become 
more  and  more  like  himself  ?     Would  he  grudge  him 
the  power  to  move  mountains  through  the  intelligent 
application  of  Nature's  laws,  when  he  himself  said 
they  might  be  moved  by  faith  ?     So  far  you  have 


31S  A  JOURNEY  IN   OTHER  WORLDS. 

been  content  to  use  tlie  mechanical  power  of  water, 
its  momentum  or  dead  weight  merely  ;  to  attain  a 
much  higher  civilization,  you  must  break  it  up 
chemically  and  use  its  constituent  gases." 

"  How,"  asked  Bearwarden,  "  can  this  be  done  ? " 

"  Force  superheated  steam,"  replied  the  spirit, 
''  through  an  intensely  heated  substance,  as  you  now 
do  in  making  water-gas — preferably  platinum  heated 
by  electricity — apply  an  apergetic  shock,  and  the  oxy- 
gen and  hydrogen  will  separate  like  oil  and  water, 
the  oxygen  being  so  much  the  heavier.  Lead  them 
in  different  directions  as  fast  as  the  water  is  decom- 
posed— since  otherwise  they  would  reunite — and  your 
supply  of  power  will  be  inexhaustible." 

"Will  you  not  stay  and  dine  with  us?"  asked 
Ayrault.  "  While  in  the  flesh  you  must  be  subject 
to  its  laws,  and  must  need  food  to  maintain  your 
strength,  like  ourselves." 

'•  It  will  give  me  great  pleasure,"  replied  the  spir- 
it, "  to  tarry  with  you,  and  once  more  to  taste  earthly 
food,  but  most  of  all  to  have  the  blessed  joy  of  being 
of  service  to  you.  Here,  all  being  immaterial  spirits, 
no  physical  injury  can  befall  any  of  us  ;  and  since  no 
one  wants  anything  that  any  one  else  can  give,  we 


THE  SPIRIT'S  FIRST  VISIT.  319 

have  no  opportunity  of  doing  anytWng  for  each 
other  You  see  we  neither  eat  nor  sleep,  neither  can 
any  of  us  again  know  physical  pain  or  death,  nor  can 
^e  comfort  one  another,  for  every  one  knows  the 
truth  about  himself  and  every  one  else,  and  we  read 
one  another's  thoughts  as  an  open  book." 

"  Do  you,"  asked  Bearwarden,  "  not  eat  at  all  . 
"  We  absorb  vitality  in  a  sense,"  replied  the  spint. 
a  As  the  sun  combines  certain  substances  into  food 
for  mortals,  it  also  produces  molecular  vibration  and 
charges  the  air  with  magnetism  and  electricity,  winch 
we  absorb  without  efiort.     In  fact,  there  is  a  fan>t 
pleasure  in  the  absorption  of  this  strength,  when,  m 
magnetic  disturbances,  there  is  an  unusual  amount 
of  immortal  food.     Should  we  try  to  resist  it,  there 
would  eventually  be  a  greater  pressure  without  than 
within,  and  we  should  assimilate  involuntarily.     We 
are  part  of  the  intangible  universe,  and  can  feel  no 
hunger  that  is  not  instantly  appeased,  neither  can  we 
ever  more  know  thirst." 

"Why"  asked  Oortlandt  reverently,  "did  the 
angel  with  the  sword  of  flame  drive  Adam  from 
the  Tree  of  Life,  since  with  his  soul  he  had  received 
that  which  could  never  die  ? " 


320  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

'*  That  was  part  of  the  mercy  of  God,"  the  shade 
replied ;  "  for  immortality  could  be  enjoyed  but 
meagrely  on  earth,  where  natural  limitations  are  so 
abrupt.  And  know  this,  ye  who  are  something  of 
chemists,  that  had  Adam  eaten  of  that  substance 
called  fruit,  he  would  have  lived  in  the  flesh  to  this 
day,  and  would  have  been  of  all  men  the  most  un- 
happy." 

"  Will  the  Fountain  of  Youth  ever  be  discov- 
ered ?  "  asked  Cortland  t. 

"That  substances  exist,"  replied  the  spirit,  "that 
render  it  impossible  for  the  germs  of  old  age  and  de- 
cay to  lodge  in  the  body,  I  know ;  in  fact,  it  would 
be  a  break  in  the  continuity  and  balance  of  Kature 
did  they  not ;  but  I  believe  their  discovery  will  be 
coincident  with  Christ's  second  visible  advent  on 
earth.  You  are,  however,  only  on  the  shore  of  the 
ocean  of  knowledge,  and,  by  continuing  to  advance  in 
geometric  ratio,  will  soon  be  a})le  to  retain  your  mor- 
tal bodies  till  the  average  longevity  exceeds  Methusey 
lah's ;  but,  except  for  more  opportunities  of  doing 
good,  or  setting  a  longer  example  to  your  fellows  by 
your  lives,  where  would  be  the  gain  ? 

"I  now  see  how  what  appeared  to  me  while  I 


THE   SPIRIT'S  FIRST  VISIT.  321 

lived  on  earth  insignificant  incidents,  were  the 
acts  of  God,  and  that  what  I  thonght  injustice 
or  misfortune  was  but  evidence  of  his  wisdom 
and  love ;  for  we  know  that  not  a  sparrow  fall- 
eth  without  God,  and  that  the  hairs  of  our  heads 
are  numbered.  Every  act  of  kindness  or  unselfish- 
ness on  my  part,  also,  stands  out  like  a  golden 
letter  or  a  white  stone,  and  gives  me  unspeakable 
comfort.  At  the  last  judgment,  and  in  eternity 
following,  we  shall  have  very  different  but  just  as 
real  bodies  as  those  that  we  possessed  in  the  flesh. 
The  dead  at  the  last  trump  will  rise  clothed  in 
them,  and  at  that  time  the  souls  in  paradise  will 
receive  them  also." 

"  I  wonder,"  thought  Ayrault,  "  on  which  hand 
we  shall  be  placed  in  that  last  day." 

"The  classification  is  now  going  on,"  said  the 
spirit,  answering  his  thought,  "  and  I  know  that  in 
the  final  judgment  each  individual  will  range  himself 
automatically  on  his  proper  side." 

"  Do  tell  me,"  said  Ayrault,  "  how  you  were  able 
to  answer  my  thought." 

"  I  see  the  vibrations  of  the  grey  matter  of  your 
brain  as  plainly  as  the  movements  of  your  lips  " ;  in 


322  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

fact,  I  see  the  thoughts  in  the  embryonic  state  tak- 
ing shape." 

When  their  meal  was  ready  they  sat  down,  Ay- 
rault  placing  the  spirit  on  his  right,  with  Cortlandt 
on  his  left,  and  having  Bearwarden  opposite.  On 
this  occasion  their  chief  had  given  them  a  particular- 
ly good  dinner,  but  the  spirit  took  only  a  slice  of 
meat  and  a  glass  of  claret. 

"  Won't  you  tell  us  the  story  of  your  life,"  said 
Ayrault  to  the  spirit,  "and  your  experiences  since 
your  death  ?  They  would  be  of  tremendous  interest 
to  us." 

"  I  was  a  bishop  in  one  of  the  Atlantic  States,"  re- 
plied the  spirit  gravely,  ''  and  died  shortly  before  the 
civil  war.  People  came  from  other  cities  to  hear 
my  sermons,  and  the  biographical  writers  have  hon- 
oured my  memory  by  saying  that  I  was  a  great  man. 
I  was  contemporaneous  with  Daniel  Webster  and 
Henry  Clay.  Shortly  after  I  reached  threescore 
and  ten,  according  to  earthly  years,  I  caught  what  I 
considered  only  a  slight  cold,  for  I  had  always  had 
good  health,  but  it  became  pneumonia.  My  friends, 
children,  and  grandchildren  came  to  see  me,  and  all 
seemed  going  well,  when,  without  warning,  my  physi- 


THE  SPIRIT'S  FIRST  VISIT.  323 

cian  told  me  I  had  but  a  few  hours  to  live.  I  could 
scarcely  believe  my  ears  ;  and  though,  as  a  Churchman, 
I  had  ministered  to  others  and  had  always  tried  to 
lead  a  good  life,  I  was  greatly  shocked.  I  suddenly 
remembered  all  the  things  I  had  left  undone  and  all 
the  things  I  intended  to  do,  and  the  old  saying, 
'Hell  is  paved  with  good  intentions,'  crossed  my 
mind  very  forcibly.  In  less  than  an  hour  I  saw  the 
physician  was  right ;  I  grew  weaker  and  my  pulse 
fluttered,  but  my  mind  remained  clear.  I  prayed  to 
my  Creator  with  all  my  soul, '  O  spare  me  a  little,  that 
I  may  recover  my  strength,  before  I  go  hence,  and 
be  no  more  seen.'  As  if  for  an  answer,  the  thought 
crossed  my  brain,  *  Set  thine  house  in  order,  for  thou 
shalt  not  live,  but  die.'  I  then  called  my  children 
and  made  disposition  of  such  of  my  property  and 
personal  effects  as  were  not  covered  by  my  will.  I 
also  gave  to  each  the  advice  that  my  experience  had 
shown  me  he  or  she  needed.  Then  came  another 
wave  of  remorse  and  regret,  and  again  an  intense 
longing  to  pray  ;  but  along  with  the  thought  of  sins 
and  neglected  duties  came  also  the  memory  of  the 
honest  efforts  I  had  made  to  obey  my  conscience,  and 
these  were  like  rifts    of   sunshine  during   a   storm. 


324  A  JOURNEY  IN   OTHER  WORLDS. 

These  thoughts,  and  the  blessed  promises  of  religion 
I  had  so  often  preached  in  the  churches  of  my 
diocese,  were  an  indescribable  comfort,  and  saved  me 
from  the  depths  of  blank  despair.  Finally  my  breath- 
ing became  laboured,  I  had  sharp  spasms  of  pain,  and 
my  pulse  almost  stopped.  I  felt  that  I  was  dying, 
and  my  sight  grew  dim.  The  crisis  and  climax  of 
life  were  at  hand.  '  Oh ! '  I  thought,  with  the  phi- 
losophers and  sages,  '  is  it  to  this  end  I  lived  ?  The 
flower  appears,  briefly  blooms  amid  troublous  toil, 
and  is  gone ;  my  body  returns  to  its  primordial  dust, 
and  my  works  are  buried  in  oblivion.  The  paths  of 
life  and  glory  lead  but  to  the  grave.'  My  soul  was 
filled  with  conflicting  thoughts,  and  for  a  moment 
even  my  faith  seemed  at  a  low  ebb.  I  could  hear 
my  children's  stifled  sobs,  and  my  darling  wife  shed 
silent  tears.  The  thought  of  parting  from  them  gave 
me  the  bitterest -wrench.  With  my  fleeting  breath  I 
gasped  these  words,  '  That  mercy  I  showed  others, 
that  show  thou  me.'  The  darkened  room  grew 
darker,  and  after  that  I  died.  In  my  sleep  I  seemed 
to  dream.  All  about  were  refined  and  heavenly 
flowers,  while  the  most  delightful  sounds  and  per- 
fumes filled   the  air.     Gradual) v  the    vision  became 


THE  SPIRIT'S  FIRST  VISIT.  325 

more  distinct,  and  I  experienced  an  indescribable 
feeling  of  peace  and  repose.  I  passed  through  fields 
and  scenes  I  had  never  seen  before,  while  every  place 
was  filled  with  an  all-pervading  light.  Sometimes  I 
seemed  to  be  miles  in  air ;  countless  suns  and  their 
planets  shone,  and  dazzled  my  eyes,  while  no  bird-of- 
paradise  was  as  happy  or  free  as  I.  Gradually  it 
came  to  me  that  I  was  awake,  and  that  it  was  no 
dream.  Then  I  remembered  my  last  moments,  and 
perceived  that  I  had  died.  Death  had  brought  free- 
dom, my  work  in  the  flesh  was  ended,  I  was  indeed 
alive. 

" '  O  Death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  O  Grave,  where 
is  thy  victory  ? '  In  my  dying  moments  I  had  for- 
gotten what  I  had  so  often  preached — 'Thou  fool, 
that  which  thou  sowest  is  not  quickened  except  it 
die.'  In  a  moment  my  life  lay  before  me  like  a  val- 
ley or  an  open  page.  All  along  its  paths  and  waysides 
I  saw  the  little  seeds  of  word  and  deed  that  I  had 
sown  extending  and  bearing  fruit  forever  for  good 
or  evil.  I  then  saw  things  as  they  were,  and  realized 
the  faultiness  of  my  former  conclusions,  based  as 
they  had  been  on  the  incomplete  knowledge  obtained 
through  embryonic    senses.     I  also  saw  the  Divine 


326  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER   WORLDS. 

purpose  in  life  as  tlie  design  in  a  piece  of  tapes- 
try, whereas  before  I  had  seen  but  the  wroner 
side.  It  is  not  till  we  have  lost  the  life  in 
the  Hesli  that  we  realize  its  dignity  and  value, 
for  every  hour  gives  us  opportunities  of  help- 
ing or  elevating  some  human  being — it  may 
be  ourselves — of  doing  something  in  His  ser- 
vice. 

*'Kow  that  time  is  past,  the  books  are  closed, 
and  we  can  do  nothing  further  ourselves  to  alter  our 
status  for  eternity,  however  much  we  may  wish  to. 
It  is  on  this  account,  and  not  merely  to  save  you 
from  death,  which  in  itself  is  nothing,  tliat  I  now 
tell  you  to  run  to  the  Callisto,  seal  the  doors  hermet- 
ically, and  come  not  forth  till  a  sudden  rush  of  air 
that  you  will  see  on  the  trees  has  passed.  A  gust  in 
which  even  birds  drop  dead,  if  they  are  unable  to 
escape,  w^ll  be  here  w^hen  you  reach  safety.  Do  not 
delay  to  take  this  food,  and  eat  none  of  it  when 
you  return,  for  it  will  be  filled  with  poisonous 
germs.*" 

"  How  can  we  find  you  ? "  asked  Ayrault,  grasp- 
ing his  hand.  "  You  must  not  leave  us  till  we  know 
how  we  can  see  you  again." 


THE  SPIRIT'S  FIRST  VISIT.  327 

"  Think  hard  and  steadfastly  of  me,  you  three," 
replied  the  spirit,  "if  you  want  me,  and  1  shall  feel 
your  thought";  saying  which,  he  vanished  before 
their  eyes,  and  the  three  friends  ran  to  the  Cal- 
listo. 


CHAPTER  III. 


DOUBTS    AND    PHILOSOPHY. 


On  reaching  it,  thej  climbed  the  ladder  leading 
to  the  second-story  opening,  and  entering  through 
this,  they  closed  the  door,  screwing  it  tightly  in  place. 

"  Xow,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  we  can  see  what 
changes,  if  any,  this  wonderful  gust  will  effect." 

''  He  made  no  strictures  on  our  senses,  such  as 
they  are,"  said  Bearwarden,  "but  implied  that  evo- 
lution would  be  carried  much  further  in  us,  from 
which  I  suppose  we  may  infer  that  it  has  not  yet 
gone  far.  I  wish  we  had  recorked  those  brandy 
peaches,  for  now  they  will  be  filled  with  poisonous 
germs.  I  wonder  if  our  shady  friend  could  not 
tell  us  of  an  antiseptic  with  which  they  might  be 
treated  ? " 

"  Those  fellows,"  thought  xVyrault,  who  had 
climbed    to  the    dome,   from   which    he   had    an   ex- 

(328) 


DOUBTS  AND   PHILOSOPHY.  329 

tended  view,  "  would  jeer  at  an  angel,  while  the  def- 
erence they  showed  the  spirit  seems,  as  usual,  to  have 
been  merely  superficial." 

"Let  us  note,"  said  Cortlandt,  "that  the  spirit 
thermometer  outside  has  fallen  several  degrees  since 
we  entered,  though,  from  the  time  taken,  I  should 
not  say  that  the  sudden  change  would  be  one  of  tem- 
perature." 

Just  then  they  saw  a  number  of  birds,  which  had 
been  resting  in  a  clump  of  trees,  take  flight  sudden- 
ly ;  but  they  fell  to  the  ground  before  they  had  risen 
far,  and  were  dashed  to  pieces.  In  another  moment 
the  trees  began  to  bend  and  sway  before  the  storm  ; 
and  as  they  gazed,  the  colour  of  the  leaves  turned 
from  green  and  purple  to  orange  and  red.  The 
wind  blew  off  many  of  these,  and  they  were  carried 
along  by  the  gusts,  or  fluttered  to  the  ground,  which 
was  soon  strewed  with  them.  It  was  a  typical  au- 
tumnal scene.  Presently  the  wind  shifted,  and  this 
was  followed  by  a  cold  shower  of  rain. 

"I  think  the  worst  is  over,"  said  Bearwarden. 
"  The  Sailor's  Guide  says  : 

'  When  the  rain's  before  the  wind, 
Halliards,  sheets,  and  braces  mind ; 


330  A  JOURXEY   IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

When  the  wind's  before  the  rain, 
Soon  you  can  make  sail  again.' 

Doubtless  that  will  hold  good  here." 

This  proved  to  be  correct ;  and,  after  a  repetition 
of  the  precautions  they  had  taken  on  their  arrival  on 
the  planet  in  regard  to  the  inhalability  of  the  air, 
they  again  sallied  forth.  They  left  their  magazine 
shot-guns,  taking  instead  the  double-barrelled  kind,  on 
account  of  the  rapidity  with  which  this  enabled  them 
to  fire  the  second  barrel  after  the  iirst,  and  threw 
away  the  water  that  had  collected  in  the  bucket,  out 
of  respect  to  the  spirit's  warning.  They  noticed  a 
pungent  odour,  and  decided  to  remain  on  high  ground, 
since  they  had  observed  that  the  birds,  in  their  effort 
to  escape,  had  flown  almost  vertically  into  the  air. 
On  reaching  the  grove  in  which  they  had  seen  the 
storm,  they  found  their  table  and  everything  on  it 
exactly  as  they  had  left  it.  Bearwarden  threw  out 
the  brandy  peaches  on  the  ground,  exclaiming  that  it 
was  a  shame  to  lose  such  good  preserves,  and  they 
proceeded  on  their  walk.  They  passed  hundreds  of 
dead  birds,  and  on  reaching  the  edge  of  the  toadstool 
valley  were  not  a  little  surprised  to  find  that  every 
toadstool  had  disappeared. 


DOUBTS  AND  PHILOSOPHY.  331 

"  I  wonder,"  said  tlie  doctor,  "  if  there  can  be  any 
connection  between  the  phenomenon  of  the  disappear- 
ance of  those  toadstools  and  the  death  of  the  birds  ? 
We  conld  easily  discover  it  if  they  had  eaten  them,  or 
if  in  any  other  way  the  plants  could  have  entered 
their  bodies  ;  but  I  see  no  way  in  which  that  can  have 
happened." 

Resolving  to  investigate  carefully  any  other  fungi 
they  might  see,  they  resumed  their  march.  The  cold, 
distant-looking  sun,  apparently  about  the  size  of  an 
orange,  was  near  the  horizon.  Saturn's  rotation  on 
its  axis  occupying  only  ten  hours  and  fourteen  min- 
utes, being  but  a  few  minutes  longer  than  Jupiter's, 
they  knew  it  would  soon  be  night.  Finding  a  place 
on  a  range  of  hills  sheltered  by  rocks  and  a  clump  of 
trees  of  the  evergreen  species,  they  arranged  them- 
selves as  comfortably  as  possible,  ate  some  of  the 
sandwiches  they  had  brought,  lighted  their  pipes,  and 
watched  the  dying  day.  Here  were  no  fire-flies  to 
light  the  darkening  minutes,  nor  singing  flowers  to 
lull  them  to  sleep  with  their  song,  but  six  of  the  eight 
moons,  each  at  a  different  phase,  and  with  varied 
brightness,  bathed  the  landscape  in  their  pale,  cold 

rays;  while  far  above  them,  like   a   huge  rainbow, 

22 


332  A  JOURNEY   IN  OTDER  WORLDS. 

stretched  the  great  rings  in  effulgent  sheets,  reaching 
thousands  of  miles  into  space,  and  flooded  everything 
with  their  silvery  light. 

"  How  poor  a  place  compared  with  this,"  they 
thought  to  themselves,  "  is  our  world  !  "  and  Ayrault 
wished  that  his  soul  was  already  free ;  while  the  dead 
leaves  rustling  in  the  gentle  breeze,  and  the  night- 
winds,  sighing  among  the  trees,  seemed  to  echo  his 
thought.  Far  above  their  heads,  and  in  the  vastness 
of  space,  the  well-known  stars  and  constellations,  not- 
withstanding the  enormous  distance  they  had  now 
come,  looked  absolutely  unchanged,  and  seemed  to 
them  emblematic  of  tranquillity  and  eternal  repose. 
The  days  were  changed  by  their  shortness,  and  by 
the  apparent  loss  of  power  in  the  sun ;  and  the  nights, 
as  if  in  compensation,  were  magnificently  illuminated 
by  the  numerous  moons  and  splendid  rings,  though 
neither  rings  nor  satellites  shone  with  as  strong  a 
light  as  the  terrestrial  moon.  But  in  nothing  outside 
of  the  solar  system  was  there  any  change ;  and  could 
^neas's  Palinurus,  or  one  of  Philip  of  Macedon's 
shepherds,  be  brought  to  life  here,  he  would  see  ex- 
actly the  same  stars  in  the  same  positions;  and,  did 
he  not  know  of  his  own  death  or  of  the  lapse  of 


DOUBTS  AND  PHILOSOPHY.  333 

time,  he  might  suppose,  so  far  as  the  heavens  were 
affected,  that  he  had  but  fallen  asleep,  or  had  just 
closed  his  eyes. 

''  I  have  always  regretted,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  that 
I  was  not  born  a  thousand  years  later." 

'*  "Were  it  not,"  added  Ayrault,  "  that  our  earth  is 
the  vestibule  to  space,  and  for  the  opportunities  it 
opens,  I  should  rather  never  have  lived,  for  life  in 
itself  is  unsatisfying." 

"  You  fellows  are  too  indefinite  and  abstract  for 
me,"  said  Bearwarden.  "  I  like  something  tangible 
and  concrete.  The  utilitarianism  of  the  twentieth 
century,  by  which  I  live,  paradoxical  though  it  may 
seem,  would  be  out  of  place  in  space,  unless  we  can 
colonize  the  other  planets,  and  improve  their  arrange- 
ments and  axes." 

Mixed  with  Ayrault's  philosophical  and  meta- 
physical thoughts  were  the  memories  of  his  sweet- 
heart at  Yassar,  and  he  longed,  more  than  his  com- 
panions, for  the  spirit's  return,  that  he  might  ask 
him  if  perchance  he  could  tell  him  aught  of  her,  and 
whether  her  thoughts  were  then  of  him. 

Finally,  worn  out  by  the  fatigue  and  excitement 
of  the  day,  they  set  the  protection- wires,  more  from 


334:  A  JOURXEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

force  of  habit  than  because  they  feared  molestation  ; 
and,  rolHng  themselves  in  their  blankets — for  the 
night  Avas  cold — were  soon  fast  asleep  ;  Ayrault's 
last  thought  having  been  of  his  Jiancee,  Cortlandt's  of 
the  question  he  wished  to  ask  the  spirit,  and  Bear- 
warden's  of  the  progress  of  his  Company  in  the 
work  of  straightening  the  terrestrial  axis.  Thus 
they  slept  seven  hundred  and  ninety  million  miles 
beyond  their  earth's  orbit,  and  more  than  eight 
hundred  million  from  the  place  where  the  earth  was 
then.  While  they  lay  unconscious,  the  clouds  above 
them  froze,  and  before  morning  there  was  a  fall  of 
snow  that  covered  the  ground  and  them  as  they  lay 
upon  it.  Soon  three  white  mounds  were  all  that 
marked  their  presence,  and  the  cranes  and  eagles,  ris- 
ing from  their  roosts  in  response  to  the  coming  day, 
looked  unconcernedly  at  all  that  was  human  that  they* 
had  ever  seen.  Finally,  weakened  by  the  resound- 
ing cries  of  these  birds.  Bear  warden  and  Cortland  t 
arose,  and  meeting  Ayrault,  who  had  already  risen, 
mistook  the  snowy  form  before  them  for  the  s})irit, 
and  thinking  the  dead  bishop  had  revisited  them, 
they  were  preparing  to  welcome  him,  and  to  pro- 
pound   the    questions    they    had    formulated,    when 


DOUBTS  AND   PHILOSOPHY.  335 

Ayrault's  familiar  voice  showed  them  their  mis- 
take. 

"  Seeing  your  white  figures,"  said  he,  "  rise  ap- 
parently in  response  to  those  loud  calls,  reminded  me 
of  what  the  spirit  told  us  of  the  last  day,  and  of  the 
awakening  and  resurrection  of  the  dead." 

The  scene  w^as  indeed  weird.  The  east,  already 
streaked  with  the  rays  of  the  rising  far-away  sun,  and 
the  pale  moons  nearing  the  horizon  in  the  west, 
seemed  connected  by  the  huge  bow  of  light.  The 
snow  on  the  dark  evergreens  j^roduced  a  contrast  of 
colour,  while  the  other  trees  raised  their  almost  bare 
and  whitened  branches  against  the  sky,  as  though  in 
supplication  to  the  mysterious  rings,  which  cast  their 
light  upon  them  and  on  the  ground.  As  they  gazed, 
however,  the  rings  became  grey,  the  moons  dis- 
appeared, and  another  day  began.  Feeling  sure  the 
snow  must  have  cleared  the  air  of  any  deleterious 
substances  it  contained  the  day  before,  they  de- 
scended into  the  neighbouring  valley,  which,  having 
a  southerly  exposure,  was  warm  in  comparison  with 
the  hills.  As  they  walked  they  disturbed  a  number 
of  small  rodents,  which  quickly  ran  away  and  disap- 
peared in  their  holes. 


336  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

"  TLongli  we  have  seen  none  of  the  huge 
creatures  here,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  that  were  so  plenti- 
ful on  Jupiter,  these  burrowers  belong  to  a  distinctly 
higher  scale  than  those  we  found  there,  from  which 
I  take  it  we  may  infer  that  the  evolution  of  the 
animal  kingdom  has  advanced  further  on  this  planet 
than  on  Jupiter,  which  is  just  what  we  have  a  right 
to  expect ;  for  Saturn,  in  addition  to  being  the  smaller 
and  therefore  more  matured  of  the  two,  has  doubt- 
less had  a  longer  individual  existence,  being  the 
farther  from  the  sun." 

Notwithstanding  the  cold  of  the  night,  the 
flowers,  especially  the  lilies,  were  as  beautiful  as 
ever,  which  surprised  them  not  a  little,  until,  on  ex- 
amining them  closely,  they  found  that  the  stems  and 
veins  in  the  leaves  were  fluted,  and  therefore  elastic, 
so  that,  should  the  sap  freeze,  it  could  expand  with- 
out bursting  the  cells,  thereby  enabling  the  flowers 
to  withstand  a  short  frost.  They  noticed  that  many 
of  the  curiously  shaped  birds  they  saw  at  a  distance 
from  time  to  time  were  able  to  move  with  great 
rapidity  along  the  ground,  and  had  about  concluded 
that  they  must  have  four  legs,  being  similar  to 
winged  squirrels,  when  a  long,  low  quadruped,  about 


DOUBTS  AND  PHILOSOPHY.  337 

twenty-five  feet  from  nostrils  to  tail,  wliich  tliey 
were  endeavouring  to  stalk,  suddenly  spread  two 
pairs  of  wings,  flapping  tlie  four  at  once,  and  then 
soared  off  at  great  speed. 

"  I  hope  we  can  get  one  of  those,  or  at  least  his 
photograph,"  said  Cortlandt. 

"  If  they  go  in  pairs,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  we  may 
find  the  companion  near." 

At  that  moment  another  great  winged  lizard,  con- 
siderably larger  than  the  first,  rose  with  a  snort,  not 
twenty  yards  on  their  left.  Cortlandt,  who  was  a 
good  shot  with  a  gun  at  short  range,  immediately 
raised  his  twelve-bore  and  fired  both  barrels  at  the 
monster ;  but  the  double-B  shots  had  no  more  dis- 
abling effect  than  if  they  had  been  number  eights. 
They,  however,  excited  the  creature's  ire  ;  for,  sweep- 
ing around  quickly,  it  made  straight  for  Cortlandt, 
breathing  at  him  when  near,  and  almost  overpowering 
the  three  men  with  the  malodorous,  poisonous  cloud 
it  exhaled.  Instantly  Bearwarden  fired  several  re- 
volver bullets  down  its  throat,  while  Ayrault  pulled 
both  barrels  almost  simultaneously,  with  the  muzzles 
but  a  few  inches  from  its  side.  In  this  case  the  in- 
itial velocity  of  the  heavy  buckshot  was  so  great,  and 


f 

338  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

they  were  still  so  close  together,  that  they  penetrated 
the  leathery  hide,  tearing  a  large  hole.  With  a  roar 
the  wounded  monster  beat  a  retreat,  first  almost  pros- 
trating them  with  another  blast  of  its  awful  breath. 

"  It  would  take  a  stronger  light  than  we  get  here," 
said  Bearwarden,  "to  impress  a  negative  through 
that  haze.  I  think,"  he  continued,  ''  I  know  a  trick 
that  will  do  the  business,  if  we  see  any  more  of  these 
dragons."  Saying  which,  he  withdrew  the  cartridges 
from  his  gun,  and  with  his  hunting-knife  cut  the 
tough  paper  shell  nearly  through  between  the  wads 
separating  the  powder  from  the  shot,  drawing  his 
knife  entirely  around. 

"  Now,"  said  he,  "  when  I  fire  those,  the  entire 
forward  end  of  the  cartridge  will  go  out,  keeping  the 
fifteen  buckshot  together  like  a  slug,  and  with  such 
penetration  that  it  will  go  through  a  two-inch  plank. 
It  is  a  trick  I  learned  from  hunters,  and,  unless  your 
guns  are  choke-bore,  in  which  case  it  might  burst  the 
barrel,  I  advise  you  to  follow  suit." 

Finding  they  had  brought  straight-bored  guns, 
they  arranged  their  cartridges  similarly,  and  set  out 
in  the  direction  in  which  the  winged  lizards  or  drag- 
ons had  gone. 


CHAPTER  lY. 

A   PROVIDENTIAL    INTERVENTION. 

The  valley  narrowed  as  tliej  advanced,  the  banks 
rising  gently  on  both  sides.  Both  dragons  had  flown 
straight  to  a  grove  of  tall,  spreading  trees.  On  com- 
ing near  to  this,  they  noticed  a  faint  smell  like  that 
of  the  dragon,  and  also  like  the  trace  they  found  in 
the  air  on  leaving  the  Callisto  the  day  before,  after 
they  had  sought  safety  within  it.  Soon  it  almost 
knocked  them  down. 

"  AYe  must  get  to  windward,"  said  Cortlandt.  "  I 
already  feel  faint,  and  believe  those  dragons  could 
kill  a  man  by  breathing  on  him." 

Accordingly,  they  skirted  around  the  grove,  and 
having  made  a  quarter  circle — for  they  did  not 
wish  the  dragons  to  wind  them — again  drew  nearer. 
Tree  after  tree  was  passed,  and  finally  they  saw  an 
open   space   twelve   or   fifteen   acres  in  area  at  the 

(339) 


34:0      A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

centre  of  the  grove,  when  they  were  arrested  by  a 
curious  sound  of  munching.  Peering  among  the 
trunks  of  the  huge  trees,  they  advanced  cautiously, 
but  stopped  aghast.  In  the  opening  were  at  least  a 
hundred  dragons  devouring  the  toadstools  with  which 
the  ground  was  covered.  Many  of  them  were  thirty 
to  forty  feet  long,  with  huge  and  terribly  long, 
sharp  claws,  and  jaws  armed  with  gleaming  batter- 
ies of  teeth.  Though  they  had  evidently  lungs,  and 
the  claws  and  mouth  of  an  animal,  they  reminded 
the  observers  in  many  respects  of  insects  enormously 
exaggerated,  for  their  wings,  composed  of  a  sort  of 
transparent  scale,  were  small,  and  moved,  as  they  had 
already  seen,  at  far  greater  speed  than  those  of  a 
bird.  Their  projecting  eyes  were  also  set  rigidly 
in  their  heads  instead  of  turning,  and  consisted  of 
a  number  of  flat  surfaces  or  facets,  like  a  fly's  eye, 
so  that  they  could  see  backward  and  all  around, 
each  facet  seeing  anything  the  rays  from  which  came 
at  right  angles  to  its  surface.  This  beautiful  grove 
was  doubtless  their  feeding-ground,  and,  as  such,  was 
likely  to  be  visited  by  many  more.  Concluding  it 
would  be  wise  to  let  their  wounded  game  escape, 
the  three  men  were  about  to  retreat,  having  found 


A  PROVIDENTIAL  INTERVENTION.  341 

it  difficult  to  breatlie  the  air  even  at  that  distance 
from  the  monsters,  when  the  wounded  dragon  that 
they  had  observed  moving  about  in  a  very  restless 
manner,  and  evidently  suffering  a  good  deal  from 
the  effect  of  its  wounds,  espied  them,  and,  with  a 
roar  that  made  the  echoes  ring,  started  towards  them 
slowly  along  the  ground,  followed  by  the  entire 
herd,  the  nearer  of  which  now  also  saw  them.  See- 
ing that  their  lives  were  in  danger,  the  hunters 
quickly  regained  the  open,  and  then  stretched  their 
legs  against  the  wind.  The  dragons  came  through 
the  trees  on  the  ground,  and  then,  raising  them- 
selves by  their  wings,  the  whole  swarm,  snorting, 
and  darkening  the  air  with  their  deadly  breath,  made 
straight  for  the  men,  who  by  comparison  looked 
like  Lilliputians.  With  the  slug  from  his  right  bar- 
rel Bearwarden  ended  the  wounded  dragon's  career 
by  shooting  him  through  the  head,  and  with  his 
left  laid  .low  the  one  following.  Ayrault  also  killed 
two  huge  monsters,  and  Cortlandt  killed  one  and 
wounded  another.  Their  supply  of  prepared  car- 
tridges was  then  exhausted,  and  they  fell  back  on 
their  revolvers  and  ineffective  spreading  shot.  Ee- 
solved    to    sell    their    lives    dearly,   they   retreated. 


342  ^  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

keeping  their  backs  to  the  wind,  witli  the  poi- 
sonous dragons  in  front.  But  the  breeze  was  very 
sHght,  and  they  were  being  rapidly  blinded  and 
asphyxiated  by  the  loathsome  fumes,  and  deaf- 
ened by  the  hideous  roaring  and  snapping  of  the 
dragons'  jaws.  Realizing  that  they  could  not  much 
longer  reply  to  the  diabolical  host  with  lead,  they 
believed  their  last  hour  had  come,  when  the  ground 
on  which  they  were  making  their  last  stand  shook, 
there  was  a  rending  of  rocks  and  a  rush  of  impris- 
oned steam  that  drowned  even  the  dragons'  roar,  and 
they  were  separated  from  them  by  a  long  fissure  and 
a  wall  of  smoke  and  vapour.  Struggling  back  from 
the  edge  of  the  chasm,  they  fell  upon  the  ground,  and 
then  for  the  first  time  fully  realized  that  the  earth- 
quake had  saved  them,  for  the  dragons  could  not 
come  across  the  opening,  and  would  not  venture  to 
fly  through  the  smoke  and  steam.  When  they  recov- 
ered somewhat  from  the  shock,  they  cut  a  number 
of  cartridges  in  the  same  way  that  they  had  pre- 
pared those  that  had  done  them  such  good  serv- 
ice, and  kept  one  barrel  of  each  gun  loaded  with 
that  kind. 

"  AVe  may  thank  Providence,"   said  Bearwarden, 


A  PROVIDENTIAL  INTERVENTION.  343 

"  for  that  escape.    I  hope  we  shall  have  no  more  such 
close  calls." 

With  a  parting  glance  at  the  chasm  that  had  saved 
their  lives,  and  from  which  a  cloud  still  arose,  they 
turned  slightly  to  the  right  of  their  former  course 
and  climbed  the  gently  rising  bank.  "When  near  the 
top,  being  tired  of  their  exciting  experiences,  they 
sat  down  to  rest.  The  ground  all  about  them  was 
covered  with  mushrooms,  white  on  top  and  pink  un- 
derneath. 

"  This  is  a  wonderful  place  for  fungi,"  said  Ay- 
rault.  "  Here,  doubtless,  we  shall  be  safe  from  the 
dragons,  for  they  seemed  to  prefer  the  toadstools."  As 
he  lay  on  the  ground  he  watched  one  particular  mush- 
room that  seemed  to  grow  before  his  eyes.  Suddenly, 
as  he  looked,  it  vanished.  Dumfounded  at  this  un- 
mistakable manifestation  of  the  phenomenon  they 
thought  they  had  seen  on  landing,  he  called  his  com- 
panions, and,  choosing  another  mushroom,  the  three 
watched  it  closely.  Presently,  without  the  least  noise 
or  commotion,  that  also  disappeared,  leaving  no  trace, 
and  the  same  fate  befell  a  number  of  others.  At  a 
certain  point  of  their  development  they  vanished  as 
completely  as  a  bubble  of  air  coming  to  the  surface 


344  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

of  water,  except  that  they  caused  no  ripple,  leav- 
ing merely  a  small  depression  where  they  had 
stood. 

"  Well,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  in  all  my  travels  I 
never  have  seen  anything  like  this.  If  I  were  at  a 
sleight-of-hand  performance,  and  the  prestidigitateur, 
after  doing  that,  asked  for  my  theory,  I  should  say, 
*  I  give  it  up.'  How  is  it  with  you,  doctor  ? "  he 
asked,  addressing  Cortlandt. 

"There  must  be  an  explanation,"  replied  Cort- 
landt, ''  only  we  do  not  know  the  natural  law  to 
which  tlie  phenomenon  is  subject,  having  had  no 
experience  with  it  on  earth.  We  know  that  all  sub- 
stances can  be  converted  into  gases,  and  that  all  gases 
can  be  reduced  to  liquids,  and  even  solids,  by  the  ap- 
plication of  pressure  and  cold.  If  there  is  any  way 
by  which  the  visible  substance  of  these  fungi  can 
be  converted  into  its  invisible  gases,  as  water  into 
oxygen  and  hydrogen,  what  we  have  seen  can  be 
logically  explained.  Perhaps,  favoured  by  some  af- 
finity of  the  atmosphere,  its  constituent  parts  are 
broken  up  and  become  gases  at  this  barometric  pres- 
sure and  temperature.  We  must  ask  the  spirit,  if  he 
visits  us  again." 


A  PROVIDENTIAL  INTERVENTION.  345 

''  I  wish  lie  would,"  said  Ayrault ;  "  there  are  lots 
of  things  I  should  like  to  ask  him." 

"  Presidents  of  corporations  and  other  chairmen," 
said  Bearwarden,  "  are  not  usually  superstitious,  and 
I,  of  course,  take  no  stock  in  the  supernatural ;  but 
somehow  I  have  a  well-formed  idea  that  our  friend 
the  bishop,  with  the  great  power  of  his  mind  over 
matter,  had  a  hand  in  that  earthquake.  He  seems  to 
have  an  exalted  idea  of  our  importance,  and  may  be 
exerting  himself  to  make  things  pleasant." 

At  this  point  the  sun  sank  below  the  horizon,  and 
they  found  themselves  confronted  with  night. 

"  Dear,  dear ! "  said  Bearwarden,  "  and  we  haven't 
a  crumb  to  eat.  I'll  stand  the  drinks  and  the  pipes," 
he  continued,  passing  around  his  ubiquitous  flask  and 
tobacco-pouch. 

"  If  I  played  such  pranks  with  my  interior  on 
earth,"  said  Cortlandt,  helping  himself  to  both,  "  as  I 
do  on  this  planet,  it  would  give  me  no  end  of  trou- 
ble, but  here  I  seem  to  have  the  digestion  of  an 
ostrich." 

So  they  sat  and  smoked  for  an  hour,  till  the  stars 
twinkled  and  the  rings  shone  in  their  glory. 

"Well,"    said   Ayrault,   finally,    "since  we  have 


346  ^  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

nothing  but  motions  to  lay  on  the  table,  I  move  we 
adjourn." 

''  The  only  motion  I  shall  make,"  said  Cortlandt, 
who  was  already  undressed,  "  will  be  that  of  getting 
into  bed,"  saying  which,  he  rolled  himself  in  his 
blanket  and  soon  was  fast  asleep. 

Having  decided  that,  on  account  of  the  proximity 
of  the  dragons,  a  man  must  in  any  event  be  on  the 
watch,  they  did  not  set  the  protection-wires.  From 
the  shortness  of  the  nights,  they  divided  them  into 
only  two  watches  of  from  two  hours  to  two  and  a 
half  each,  so  that,  even  when  constant  watch  duty  was 
necessary,  each  man  had  one  full  night's  sleep  in 
three.  On  this  occasion  Ayrault  and  Cortlandt  were 
the  watchers,  Cortlandt  having  the  morning  and  Ay- 
rault the  evening  watch.  Many  curious  quadruped 
birds,  about  the  size  of  large  bears,  and  similar  in 
shape,  having  bear-shaped  heads,  and  several  crea- 
tures that  looked  like  the  dragons,  flew  about  them  in 
the  moonlight ;  but  neither  watcher  fired  a  shot,  as 
the  creatures  showed  no  desire  to  make  an  attack. 
All  these  species  seemed  to  belong  to  the  owl  or  bat 
tribe,  for  they  roamed  abroad  at  night. 


CHAPTER  Y. 


AYRAULT  S    VISION. 


When  Ayrault's  watch  was  ended,  he  roused 
Cortlandt,  who  took  his  place,  and  feeling  a  desire 
for  solitude  and  for  a  last  long  look  at  the  earth,  he 
crossed  the  top  of  the  ridge  on  the  slope  of  which 
they  had  camped,  and  lay  down  on  the  farther  side. 
The  south  wind  in  the  upper  air  rushed  along  in  the 
mighty  whirl,  occasionally  carrying  filmy  clouds 
across  the  faces  of  the  moons ;  but  about  Ayrault 
all  was  still,  and  he  felt  a  quiet  and  serene  repose. 
He  had  every  intention  of  remaining  awake,  and  was 
pondering  on  the  steadfastness  of  the  human  heart 
and  the  constancy  of  love,  when  his  meditations  be- 
gan to  wander,  and,  with  his  last  thoughts  on  Sylvia, 
he  fell  asleep.  Kot  a  branch  moved,  nor  did  a  leaf 
fall,  yet  before  Ayrault's  sleeping  eyes  a  strange 
scene  was  enacted.     A  figure  in  white  came  near  and 

23  (347) 


348  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

stood  before  him,  and  he  recognized  in  it  one  Violet 
Slade,  a  very  attractive  girl  to  whom  he  had  been 
attentive  in  his  college  days.  She  was  at  that  time 
just  eighteen,  and  people  believed  that  she  loved  him, 
but  for  some  reason,  he  knew  not  why,  he  had  not 
proposed. 

"  I  thought  you  had  died,"  he  said,  as  she  gazed 
at  him,  "  but  you  are  now  looking  better  than  ever." 

"  From  the  world's  point  of  view  I  am  dead,"  she 
replied.  "I  died  and  was  buried.  It  is  therefore 
permissible  that  I  should  show  you  the  truth.  You 
never  believed  I  loved  you.  I  have  wished  earnestly 
to  see  you,  and  to  have  you  know  that  I  did." 

"I  did  you  an  injustice,"  Ayrault  answered,  per- 
ceivins:  all  that  was  in  her  heart.  "  Could  mortals 
but  see  as  spirits  do,  there  would  be  no  misunder- 
standings." 

"  I  am  so  glad  to  see  you,"  she  continued,  "  and  to 
know  you  are  well.  Had  you  not  come  here,  we 
could  probably  not  have  met  until  after  your  death ; 
for  I  shall  not  be  sufficiently  advanced  to  return  to 
earth  for  a  long  time,  though  my  greatest  solace 
while  there  was  my  religion,  which  is  all  that 
brought  me  here.     We,  however,  know  that  as  our 


AYRAULT'S  VISION.  349 

capacity  for  true  happiness  increases  we  shall  be  hap- 
pier, and  that  after  the  resurrection  there  will  be  no 
more  tears.  Farewell,"  she  whispered,  while  her 
eyes  were^lled  with  love. 

Ayrault's  sleep  was  then  undisturbed  for  some 
time,  when  suddenly  an  angel,  wreathed  in  light,  ap- 
peared before  him  and  spoke  these  words :  "  He  that 
walked  with  Adam  and  talked  with  Moses  has  sent 
me  to  guard  you  while  you  sleep.  I^o  plague  or 
fever,  wild  beast  or  earthquake,  can  molest  you, 
for  you  are  equally  protected  from  the  most  pow- 
erful monster  and  the  most  insidious  disease -germ. 
'  Blessed  is  the  man  whose  offences  are  covered  and 
whose  sins  are  forgiven.'  Sleep  on,  therefore,  and 
be  refreshed,  for  the  body  must  have  rest." 

"  A  man  may  rest  indeed,"  replied  Ayrault, 
"when  he  has  a  guardian  angel.  I  had  the  most 
unbounded  faith  in  your  existence  before  I  saw  you, 
and  believe  and  know  that  you  or  others  have  often 
shielded  me  from  danger  and  saved  my  life.  Why 
am  I  worthy  of  so  much  care  ? " 

"  ^  Whoso  dwelleth  under  the  defence  of  the 
Most  High  shall  abide  under  the  shadow  of  the  Al- 
mighty,' "   answered    the    angel,   and   thereupon   he 


350  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER   WORLDS. 

became  invisible,  a  diffused  light  taking  his  place. 
Shortly  afterwards  this  paled  and  completely  van- 
ished. 

"  Xot  only  am  I  in  paradise,"  though^  Ayrault ; 
"  I  believe  I  am  also  in  the  seventh  heaven.  Would 
I  might  hear  such  words  again ! " 

A  group  of  lilies  then  appeared  before  the 
sleeper's  eyes.  In  the  midst  was  one  lily  far  larger 
than  the  rest,  and  of  a  dazzling  white.  This 
spoke  in  a  gentle  voice,  but  with  the  tones  of  a 
trombone : 

"Thy  thoughts  and  acts  are  a  pleasure  to  me. 
Thou  hast  raised  no  idols  within  thy  heart,  and  thy 
faith  is  as  incense  before  me.  Thy  name  is  now  in 
the  Book  of  Life.  Continue  as  thou  hast  begun,  and 
thou  shalt  live  and  reign  forever." 

Hereupon  the  earth  shook,  and  Ayrault  was  awak- 
ened. Great  boulders  were  rolling  and  crashing 
down  the  slope  about  him,  while  the  dawn  was  al- 
ready in  the  east. 

"  My  mortal  eyes  and  senses  are  keener  here  while 
I  sleep  than  when  I  wake,"  he  thought,  as  he  looked 
about  him,  "  for  spirits,  unable  to  affect  me  while 
waking,  have  made  themselves  felt  in  my  more  sensi- 


Ayrault's  vision. 


AYRAULT'S  VISION.  35 1 

tive  state  while  I  was  asleep.  Nevertheless,  this  is 
none  other  but  the  house  of  God,  and  this  is  the  gate 
of  heaven. 

"  The  boulders  were  still  in  motion  when  I  opened 
my  eyes,"  he  mused ;  "  can  it  be  that  there  is  here- 
abouts such  a  flower  as  in  my  dreams  I  seemed  to 
see  ? "  and  looking  beyond  where  his  head  had  lain,  he 
beheld  the  identical  lily  surrounded  by  the  group  that 
his  closed  eyes  had  already  seen.  Thereupon  he  un- 
covered his  head  and  departed  quickly.  Crossing 
the  divide,  he  descended  to  camp,  where  he  found 
Cortlandt  in  deep  thought. 

''  I  cannot  get  over  the  dreams,"  said  the  doctor, 
"  I  had  in  the  first  part  of  the  night.  Notwithstand- 
ing yesterday's  excitement  and  fatigue,  my  sleep  was 
most  disturbed,  and  I  was  visited  by  visions  of  my 
wife,  who  died  long  ago.  She  warned  me  against 
skepticism,  and  seemed  much  distressed  at  my  present 
spiritual  state." 

"  I,"  said  Bearwarden,  who  had  been  out  early, 
and  had  succeeded  in  bringing  in  half  a  dozen  birds, 
"  was  so  disturbed  I  could  not  sleep.  It  seemed  to 
me  as  though  half  the  men  I  have  ever  known  came 
and  warned  me  against  agnosticism  and  my  materialis- 


352  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

tic  tendencies.  Tliej  kept  repeating,  '  You  are  losing 
the  reality  for  the  shadow.'  " 

"  I  am  convinced,"  said  Ajrault,  "that  they  were 
not  altogether  dreams,  or,  if  dreams  indeed,  that  they 
were  superinduced  by  a  higher  will.  We  know  that 
angels  have  often  appeared  to  men  in  the  past.  May 
it  not  be  that,  as  our  appreciativeness  increases,  these 
communications  will  recur  ?  "  Thereupon  he  related 
his  own  experiences. 

"  The  thing  that  surprised  me,"  said  Cortlandt,  as 
they  finished  breakfast,  "  Avas  the  extraordinary  real- 
ism of  the  scene.  We  must  see  if  our  visions  return 
on  anything  but  an  empty  stomach." 


CHAPTER  YL 

A  GREAT  VOID  AND  A  GREAT  LONGING. 

Resuming  tlieir  march,  the  travellers  proceeded 
along  the  circumference  of  a  circle  having  a  radius 
of  about  three  miles,  with  the  Callisto  in  the  centre. 
In  crossing  soft  places  they  observed  foot-prints 
forming  in  the  earth  all  around  them.  The  im- 
pressions were  of  all  sizes,  and  ceased  when  they 
reached  rising  or  hard  ground,  only  to  reappear 
in  the  swamps,  regulating  their  speed  by  that  of 
the  travellers.  The  three  men  were  greatly  sur- 
prised at  this. 

"You  may  observe,"  said  Cortlandt,  "that  the 
surface  of  the  impression  is  depressed  as  you  watch 
it,  as  though  by  a  weight,  and  you  can  see,  and 
even  hear,  the  water  being  squeezed  out,  though 
whatever  is  doing  it  is  entirely  invisible.  They 
must    be    made   by   spirits   sufficiently  advanced   to 

(353) 


354  A  JOURXEV   IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 

have  weight,  but  not  advanced  enough  to  make 
themselves  visible." 

Moved  bj  a  species  of  vandalism,  Bearwarden 
raised  his  twelve-bore,  and  fired  an  ordinary  car- 
tridge that  he  had  not  prepared  for  the  dragons,  at 
the  space  directly  over  the  nearest  forming  prints. 
There  was  a  brilliant  display  of  prismatic  colours, 
as  in  a  rainbow,  and  though  the  impressions  already 
made  remained,  no  new  ones  were  formed. 

''  Kow  you  have  done  it !  "  said"  Cortlandt.  "  I 
hoped  to  be  able  to  investigate  this  further." 

"  We  shall  doubtless  see  other  and  perhaps  more 
wonderful  things,"  replied  Bearwarden.  "  I  must 
say  this  gives  me  an  uncanny  feeling." 

When  they  had  completed  a  little  over  half  their 
circle,  they  came  upon  another  of  the  groves  with 
which  Saturn  seemed  to  abound,  at  the  edge  of 
which,  in  a  side-hill,  was  a  cave,  the  entrance  of 
which  was  composed  of  rocky  masses  that  had 
apparently  fallen  together,  the  floor  being  but  little 
higher  than  the  surface  outside.  The  arched  roof  of 
the  vestibule  was  rendered  water-tight  by  the  soil 
that  had  formed  upon  it,  which  again  was  overgrown 
by  vines  and  bushes." 


A  GREAT   VOID  AND  A  GREAT  LONGING.     355 

"  This,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  will  be  a  good  place 
to  camp,  for  the  cave  will  protect  lis  from  dragons, 
unless  they  should  take  a  notion  to  breathe  at  us 
from  the  outside,  and  it  will  keep  us  dry  in  case  of 
rain.  To-morrow  we  can  start  with  this  as  a  centre, 
and  make  another  circuit." 

"We  can  explore  Saturn  on  foot,"  said  Cortlandt, 
"  and  far  more  thoroughly  than  Jupiter,  on  account 
of  its  comparative  freedom  from  monsters.  Not 
even  the  dragons  can  trouble  us,  unless  we  meet  them 
in  large  numbers." 

Thereupon  they  set  about  getting  fuel  for  their 
fire.  Besides  collecting  some  of  the  dead  wood  that 
was  lying  all  about,  they  split  up  a  number  of  resinous 
pine  and  fir  trees  with  explosive  bullets  from  their  re- 
volvers, so  that  soon  they  not  only  had  a  roaring  fire, 
but  filled  the  back  part  of  the  cave  with  logs  to  dry, 
in  case  they  should  camp  there  again  at  some  later 
day.  ^Neither  Cortlandt  nor  Bearwarden  felt  much 
like  sleeping,  and  so,  after  finishing  the  birds  the 
president  had  brought  down  that  morning,  they  per- 
suaded Ayrault  to  sit  up  and  smoke  with  them. 
Wrapping  themselves  in  their  blankets— for  there 
was  a  chill  in  the  air — they  sat  about  the  camp-fire 


356  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

they  had  built  in  the  mouth  of  the  cave.  Two 
moons  that  were  at  the  full  rose  rapidly  in  the  clear, 
cold  sky.  On  account  of  their  distance  from  the  sun, 
they  were  less  bright  than  the  terrestrial  moon,  but 
they  shone  with  a  marvellously  pure  pale  light. 
The  larger  contained  the  exact  features  of  a  man. 
Tliere  was  the  somewhat  aquiline  nose,  a  clear-cut 
and  expressive  mouth,  and  large,  handsome  eyes, 
wliich  were  shaded  by  well-marked  eyebrows.  The 
whole  face  was  very  striking,  but  was  a  personifica- 
tion of  the  most  intense  grief.  The  expression  was  in- 
deed sadder  than  that  of  any  face  they  had  ever  seen. 
The  other  contained  the  profile  of  a  surpassingly 
beautiful  young  woman.  The  handsome  eyes,  shaded 
by  lashes,  looked  straiglit  ahead.  The  nose  was  per- 
fect, and  the  ear  small,  while  the  hair  was  artistically 
arranged  at  the  top  and  back  of  the  head.  This 
moon  also  reflected  a  pure  white  ray.  The  former 
appeared  about  once  and  a  quarter,  the  latter  but 
three  quarters,  the  size  of  the  terrestrial  moon,  and  the 
travellers  immediately  recognized  them  by  their  sizes 
and  relative  positions  as  Tethys  and  Dione,  discovered 
by  J.  D.  Cassini  in  March,  168-J:.  The  sad  face  was 
turned  slightly  towards  that  of   its  companion,  and 


A  GREAT  VOID  AND  A  GREAT  LONGING.     357 

it  looked  as  if  some  tale  of  the  human  heart,  some 
romance,  had  heen  engraved  and  preserved  for  all 
time  on  the  features  of  these  dead  bodies,  as  they 
silently  swung  in  their  orbits  forever  and  anon  were 
side  by  side. 

"  In  all  the  ages,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  that  these 
moons  have  wandered  with  Saturn  about  the  sun, 
and  with  the  solar  system  in  its  journey  through 
space,  they  can  never  have  gazed  upon  the  scene 
they  now  behold,  for  we  may  be  convinced  that  no 
mortal  man  has  been  here  before." 

"  We  may  say,"  said  Ayrault,  "  that  they  see  in 
our  bodies  a  type  of  the  source  from  which  come 
all  the  spiritual  beings  that  are  here." 

"  If,  as  the  writers  of  mythology  supposed,"  re- 
plied Cortlandt,  "inanimate  objects  were  endowed 
with  senses,  these  moons  would  doubtless  be  unable 
to  perceive  the  spiritual  beings  here  ;  for  the  satel- 
lites, being  material,  should,  to  be  consistent,  have 
only  those  senses  possessed  by  ourselves,  so  that  to 
them  this  planet  would  ordinarily  appear  deserted." 

"  I  shall  be  glad,"  said  Bearwarden,  gloomily, 
"  when  those  moons  wane  and  are  succeeded  by  their 
fellows,  for  one  would  give    me    an  attack  of  the 


358  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER   WORLDS. 

blues,  while  the  other  would  subject  me  to  the  incon- 
venience of  falling  in  love." 

As  he  spoke,  the  upper  branches  of  the  trees  in 
the  grove  began  to  sway  as  a  cold  gust  from  the 
north  sighed  among  them.  "  Lose  no  more  oppor- 
tunities," it  seemed  to  cry,  "  for  life  is  short  and  un- 
certain. Soon  you  will  all  be  colder  than  I,  and 
your  future,  still  as  easily  moulded  as  clay,  will  be 
set  as  Marpesian  marble,  more  fixed  than  the  hard- 
est rock." 

"  Paradise,"  said  Cortlandt,  ^'  contains  sights  and 
sounds  that  might,  I  should  think,  arouse  sad  remi- 
niscences without  the  aid  of  the  waters  of  Lethe,  un- 
less the  joy  of  its  souls  in  their  new  resources  and 
the  sense  of  forgiveness  outweigh  all  else." 

With  a  parting  look  at  the  refined,  silvery  moon, 
and  its  sorrow-laden  companion,  they  retired  to  the 
sheltering  cave,  piled  up  the  fire,  and  talked  on  for 
an  hour. 

"  I  do  not  see  how  it  is,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  that 
these  moons,  considering  their  distance  from  the 
sun,  and  the  consequently  small  amount  of  light  they 
receive,  are  so  bright." 

"  A   body's   brightness   in   reflecting    light,"    re- 


A  GREAT  VOID  AND  A  GREAT  LONGING.     359 

plied  Cortlandt,  "  depends  as  much  on  the  colour 
and  composition  of  its  own  surface  as  on  the  amount 
it  receives.  It  is  conceivable  that  these  moons,  if 
placed  at  the  earth's  distance  from  the  sun,  would  be 
far  brighter  than  our  moon,  and  that  our  famihar 
satellite,  if  removed  to  Saturn,  would  seem  very  dim. 
We  know  how  much  more  brilliant  a  mountain  in 
the  sunlight  is  when  clad  in  snow  than  when  its 
sides  are  bare.  These  moons  evidently  reflect  a  large 
proportion  of  the  light  they  receive." 

When  they  came  out  shortly  after  midnight  the 
girl's-face  moon  had  already  set,  leaving  a  dark  and 
dreary  void  in  the  part  of  the  sky  it  had  so  ideally 
filled.  The  inexpressibly  sad  satellite  (on  account  of 
its  shorter  distance  and  more  rapid  rate  of  revolu- 
tion) was  still  above  the  horizon,  and,  being  slightly 
tilted,  had  a  more  melancholy,  heart-broken  look  than 
before.  While  they  gazed  sadly  at  the  emptiness 
left  by  Dione,  Cortlandt  saw  Ayrault's  expression 
change,  and,  not  clearly  perceiving  its  cause,  said, 
wishing  to  cheer  him  :  "  E'ever  mind,  Dick  ;  to-mor- 
row night  we  shall  see  it  again." 

"  Ah,  prosaic  reasoner,"  retorted  Bearwarden, 
who  saw  that  this,  like  so  many  other  things,  had  re- 


360  A  JOURNEY   IN   OTHER  WORLDS. 

minded  Ajrault  of  Sylvia,  "  that  is  but  small  conso- 
lation for  having  lost  it  now,  though  I  suppose  our 
lot  is  not  so  hard  as  if  we  were  never  to  see  it  again. 
In  that  moon's  face  I  find  the  realization  of  my  fan- 
cied ideal  woman ;  while  that  sad  one  yonder  seems 
as  though  some  celestial  lover,  in  search  of  his  fate, 
had  become  enamoured  of  her,  and  tried  in  vain 
to  win  her,  and  the  grief  in  his  mind  had  impressed 
itself  on  the  then  molten  face  of  a  satellite  to  be  the 
monument  throughout  eternity  of  love  and  a  broken 
heart.  If  the  spirits  and  souls  of  the  departed  have 
any  command  of  matter,  why  may  not  their  intensest 
thoughts  engrave  themselves  on  a  moon  that,  when 
dead  and  frozen,  may  reflect  and  shine  as  they  did, 
while  immersed  in  the  depths  of  space  ?  At  first 
Dione  bored  me ;  now  I  should  greatly  like  to  see 
her  again." 

"  History  repeats  itself,"  replied  Cortlandt,  "  and 
the  same  phases  of  life  recur.  It  is  we  that  are  in  a 
changed  receptive  mood.  The  change  that  seems  to 
be  in  them  is  in  reality  in  us.  Remain  as  you  are 
now,  and  Dione  will  give  you  the  same  pleasure  to- 
morrow that  she  gave  to-day." 

To  Ayrault  this  meant  more  than  the  mere  set- 


A  GREAT  VOID  AND  A  GREAT  LONGING.  361 

ting  to  rise  again  of  a  heavenly  body.     The  perfume 
of  a  flower,  the  sighing  of  the  wind,  suggesting  some 
harmony  or  song,   a  full  or  crescent  moon,  recalled 
thoughts   and    associations    of    Sylvia.      Everything 
seemed  to  bring  out  memory,   and  he  realized  the 
utter  inability  of  absence  to  cure  the  heart  of  love. 
"  If  Sylvia  should  pass  from  my  life  as  that  moon 
has   left   my    vision,"  his  thoughts  continued,  "  ex- 
istence   would    be  but  sadness    and  memory    would 
be  its  cause,   for   the  most    beautiful  sounds  entail 
sorrow  ;    the    most    beautiful    sights,    intense    pain. 
Ah,"  he  went  on   with  a  trace   of  bitterness,  while 
his  friends  fell  asleep  in  the  cave,  '^  I  might  better 
have   remained    in    love   with    science ;    for   whoso 
studies  Nature,  which  is  but  a  form  of  God,  in  the 
right  spirit,  is  not  dependent  for  his  joy  or  despair 
on  the  whims  of  a  girl.     She,  of  course,  sees  many 
others,    and,    being    only    twenty,    may   forget    me. 
Must  I  content  myself  with  philosophical  rules  and 
mathematical  formulse,  when  she,  whose  changeful- 
ness  I  may  find  greater  than  the  winds  that  sigh  over 
me,  now  loves  me  no  longer  ?     O  love,  which  makes 
us  miserable  when  we  feel  it,  and    more  miserable 
still  when  it  is  gone  !  " 


362  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

He  strung  a  number  of  copper  wires  at  different 
degrees  of  tension  between  two  trees,  and  listened  to 
the  wind  as  it  ranged  up  and  down  on  this  impro- 
vised a'EoHan  harp.  It  gradually  ran  into  a  regular 
refrain,  which  became  more  and  more  like  words. 
Ayrault  was  puzzled,  and  then  amazed.  There  could 
be  no  doubt  about  it.  ''  You  should  be  happy,"  it 
kept  repeating — "  you  should  be  happy,"  in  soft 
musical  tones. 

"  I  know  I  should,"  replied  Ayrault,  finally  rec- 
ognizing the  voice  of  Yiolet  Slade  in  the  song  of 
the  wind,  "  and  I  cannot  understand  why  I  am  not. 
Tell  me,  is  this  paradise,  Yiolet,  or  is  it  not  rather 
purgatory  ?  " 

The  notes  ranged  up  and  down  again,  and  he 
perceived  that  she  was  causing  the  wind  to  blow  as 
she  desired — in  other  words,  she  was  making  it  play 
upon  his  harp. 

"  That  depends  on  the  individual,"  she  replied. 
"  It  is  rather  sheol,  the  place  of  departed  spirits. 
Those  whose  consciences  made  them  happy  on  earth 
are  in  paradise  here  ;  while  those  good  enough  to 
reach  heaven  at  last,  but  in  whom  some  dross  re- 
mains, are  further  refined  in  y])irit,  acd  to  them  it  is 


A  GREAT  VOID  AND  A  GREAT  LONGING.     3G3 

purgatory.  Tliose  who  are  in  love  can  be  liappy  in 
but  one  way  while  their  love  lasts.  What  is  happi- 
ness, anyway  ?  " 

"  It  is  the  state  in  which  desires  are  satisfied,  my 
fair  Yiolet,"  answered  Ayrault. 

"  Say,  rather,  the  state  in  which  desire  coincides 
with  'duty,"  replied  the  song.  "  Self-sacrifice  for 
others  gives  the  truest  joy  ;  being  w^ith  the  object  of 
one's  love,  the  next.  You  never  believed  that  I 
loved  you.  I  dissembled  well ;  but  you  will  see  for 
yourself  some  day,  as  clearly  as  I  see  your  love  for 
another  now." 

"  Yes,"  replied  Ayrault,  sadly,  "  I  am  in  love.  I 
have  no  reason  to  believe  there  is  cause  for  my  un- 
rest, and,  considering  every  thing,  I  should  be  happy 
as  man  can  be  ;  yet,  mirdbile  dictu,  I  am  in — hades, 
in  the  very  depths  ! " 

"  Your  beloved  is  beyond  my  vision  ;  your  heart 
is  all  1  can  see.  Yet  I  am  convinced  she  will  not 
forget  you.     I  am  sure  she  loves  you  still." 

"  I  have  always  believed  in  homoeopathy  to  the 

extent  of  the  shnilia  similihus  ciorantur^  Yiolet,  and 

it  is  certain  that  where  nothing  else  will  cure  a  man 

of  love  for  one  woman,  his  love  for  another  will. 
24 


364  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTYlFAl   WORLDS. 

You  can  see  how  I  love  Sylvia,  but  you  have  never 
seemed  so  sweet  to  me  as  to-day." 

"  It  is  a  sacrilege,  my  friend,  to  speak  so  to  me 
now.  You  are  done  with  me  forever.  I  am  but  a 
disembodied  spirit,  and  escaped  hades  by  the  grace 
of  the  Omnipotent,  rather  than  by  virtue  of  any  good 
I  did  on  earth.  So  far  as  any  elasticity  is  left  in  my 
opportunities,  I  am  dead  as  yon  moon.  You  have 
still  the  gift  that  but  one  can  give.  Within  your 
animal  body  you  hold  an  immortal  soul.  It  is  pli- 
able as  wax ;  you  can  mould  it  by  your  will.  As  you 
shape  that  soul,  so  will  your  future  be.  It  is  the  ark 
that  can  traverse  the  flood.  Raise  it,  and  it  will  raise 
you.  It  is  all  there  is  in  yourself.  Preserve  that 
gift,  and  when  you  die  you  will,  I  hope,  start  on  a 
plane  many  thousands  of  years  in  advance  of  me. 
There  should  l)e  no  more  comparison  between  us 
than  between  a  person  with  all  his  senses  and  one 
that  is  deaf  and  blind.  Though  you  are  a  layman, 
you  should,  with  your  faith  and  frame  of  mind,  soon 
be  but  little  behind  our  spiritual  bishop." 

"  I  supposed  after  death  a  man  had  rest.  Is  he, 
then,  a  bishop  still  !f " 

"  The  progress,  as  he  told  you,  is  largely  on  the 


A  GREAT  VOID  AND  A  GREAT  LONGING.  3(35 

old  lines.  As  lie  stirred  men's  hearts  on  earth,  he 
will  stir  their  souls  in'  heaven ;  and  this  is  no  irk- 
some or  unwelcome  work." 

''  You  say  he  will  do  this  in  heaven.  Is  he,  then, 
not  there  yet  ?  " 

"  He  was  not  far  from  heaven  on  earth,  yet  tech- 
nically none  of  us  can  be  in  heaven  till  after  the  gen- 
eral resurrection.  Then,  as  we  knew  on  earth,  we 
shall  receive  bodies,  though,  as  yet,  concerning  their 
exact  nature  we  know  but  little  more  than  then.  We 
are  all  in  sheol — the  just  in  purgatory  and  paradise, 
the  unjust  in  hell." 

"  Since  you  are  still  in  purgatory,  are  you  un- 
happy?" 

"  No,  our  state  is  very  happy.  All  physical  pain 
is  past,  and  can  never  be  felt  again.  "We  know  that 
our  evil  desires  are  overcome,  and  that  their  imprints 
are  being  gradually  erased.  I  occasionally  shed  an 
intangible  tear,  yet  for  most  of  those  who  strove  to 
obey  their  consciences,  purgatory,  when  essential, 
though  occasionally  giving  us  a  bitter  twinge,  is  a 
joy-producing  state.  E'ot  all  the  glories  imaginable 
or  unimaginable  could  make  us  happy,  were  our  con- 
sciences  ill   at   ease.     I    liave   advanced   slowly,  yet 


366  -^  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

some  tilings  are  given  us  at  once.  After  I  realized  I 
had  irrevocably  lost  your  love,  tliongli  for  a  time  I 
had  hoped  to  regain  it,  I  became  very  restless ;  earth 
seemed  a  prison,  and  I  looked  forward  to  death  as 
my  deliverer.  I  bore  you  no  malice ;  you  had  never 
especially  tried  to  win  me ;  the  infatuation — that  of 
a  girl  of  eighteen — had  been  all  on  my  side.  I  lived 
five  sad  and  lonely  years,  although,  as  you  know,  I 
had  much  attention.  People  thought  me  cold  and 
heartless.  How  could  I  have  a  heart,  having  failed 
to  win  yours,  and  mine  being  broken  ?  Having  lost 
the  only  man  I  loved,  I  knew  no  one  else  could  re- 
place him,  and  I  was  not  the  kind  to  marry  for  pique. 
People  thought  me  handsome,  but  I  felt  myself  aged 
when  you  ceased  to  call.  Perhaps  when  you  and  she 
who  holds  all  your  love  cqme  to  sheol,  she  may  spare 
you  to  me  a  little,  for  as  a  spirit  my  every  thought  is 
known ;  or  perhaps  after  the  resurrection,  when  I, 
too,  can  leave  this  planet,  we  shall  all  soar  through 
space  together,  and  we  can  study  the  stars  as  of  old." 
^'  Your  voice  is  a  symphony,  sweetest  Yiolet,  and 
I  love  to  hear  your  words.  Ah,  would  you  could 
once  more  return  to  earth,  or  that  I  were  an  ethereal 
spirit,  that  we  might  commune  face  to  face  !     I  would 


A  GREAT  VOID  AND  A  GREAT  LONGING.     36Y 

follow  yon  from  one  end  of  Shadowland  to  the  otlier. 
Of  what  use  is  life  to  me,  Avith  distractions  that  draw 
my  thoughts  to  earth  as  gravitation  drew  my  body  ? 
I  wish  I  were  a  shade." 

"  You  are  talking  for  effect,  Dick— which  is  use- 
less here,  for  I  see  how  utterly  you  are  in  love." 

"  I  am  in  love,  Yiolet ;  and  though,  as  I  said,  I 
have  no  reason  to  doubt  Sylvia's  steadfastness  and  con- 
stancy, I  am  very  unhappy.  I  have  always  heard 
that  time  is  a  balsam  that  cures  all  ills,  yet  I  become 
more  wretched  every  day." 

"Do  all  you  can  to  preserve  that  love,  and  it 
will  bring  you  joy  all  your  Hfe.  Your  happiness 
is  my  happiness.  What  distresses  you,  distresses 
me." 

The  tones  here  grew  fainter  and  seemed  about  to 
cease. 

"  Before  you  leave  me,"  cried  Ayrault,  "  tell  me 
how  and  when  I  may  see  or  hear  you  again." 

"  While  you  remain  on  this  planet,  I  shall  be  near ; 
but  beyond  Saturn  I  cannot  go." 

"  Yet  tell  me,  Yiolet,  how  I  may  see  you  ?  My 
love  unattained,  you  perceive,  makes  me  wretched, 
while  you  always  gave  me  calm  and  peace.     If  I  may 


308  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

not  kiss  the  hand  I  ahnost  asked  might  be  mine,  let 
me  have  but  a  ghmce  from  your  sweet  eyes,  which 
will  comfort  me  so  much  now." 

"  If  you  break  the  ice  in  the  pool  behind  you,  you 
shall  see  me  till  the  frame  melts." 

After  this  the  silence  was  broken  only  by  the 
sighing  of  the  wind  in  the  trees.  The  pool  had  sud- 
denly become  covered  with  ice  several  inches  thick. 
Taking  an  axe,  Ayrault  hewed  out  a  parallelogram 
about  three  feet  by  four  and  set  it  on  end  against  the 
bank.  The  cold  grey  of  morning  was  already  colour- 
ing the  east,  and  in  the  growing  light  Ayrault  beheld 
a  vision  of  Yiolet  witliin  the  ice.  The  face  was  at 
about  three  fourths,  and  had  a  contemplative  air.  The 
hair  was  arranged  as  he  had  formerly  seen  it,  and  the 
thoughtful  look  was  strongest  in  the  beautiful  grey 
eyes,  which  were  more  serious  than  of  yore.  Ayrault 
stood  riveted  to  the  spot  and  gazed. 

"  I  could  have  been  happy  with  her,"  he  mused, 
'^  and  to  think  she  is  no  more  !  " 

As  drops  fell  from  the  ice,  tears  rose  to  his  eyes. 

"  Wliat  a  pretty  girl !  "  said  Bearwarden  to  Cort- 
landt,  as  they  came   upon   it  later  in  the  day.     "  The 


A  GREAT    VOID  AND  A  GREAT  LONGING.     369 

face  seems  etclied  or  imprinted  by  some  peculiar  form 
of  freezing  far  within  the  ice." 

The  next  morning  they  again  set  out,  and  so 
tramped,  hunted,  and  investigated  with  varying  suc- 
cess for  ten  Saturnian  days.  They  found  that  in  the 
animal  and  plant  forms  of  life  Nature  had  often,  by 
some  seeming  accident,  struck  out  in  a  course  very 
different  from  any  on  the  earth.  Many  of  the  ani- 
mals were  bipeds  and  tripeds,  the  latter  arranged  in 
tandem,  the  last  leg  being  evidently  an  enormously 
developed  tail,  by  which  the  creature  propelled  itself 
as  with  a  spring.  The  quadrupeds  had  also  some- 
times wings,  and  their  bones  were  hollow,  like  those 
of  birds.  Whether  this  great  motive  and  lifting 
power  was  the  result  of  the  planet's  size  and  the 
power  of  gravitation,  or  whether  some  creatures  had 
in  addition  the  power  of  developing  a  degree  of  aper- 
getic  repulsion  to  offset  it,  as  they  suspected  in  the 
case  of  the  boa-constrictor  that  fell  upon  Cortlandt 
on  Jupiter,  they  could  not  absolutely  ascertain. 
Life  was  far  less  prolific  on  Saturn  than  on  Jupiter, 
doubtless  as  a  result  of  its  greater  distance  from  the 
sun,  and  of  its  extremes  of  climate,  almost  all  organic 
life  being  driven  to  the  latitudes  near  the  equator. 


370  A  JOURNEY   IN    OTHER  WORLDS. 

There  were,  as  on  Jupiter,  many  variations  from  the 
forms  of  life  to  which  they  were  accustomed,  and 
adaptations  to  the  conditions  in  which  they  found 
themselves ;  but,  with  the  exception  of  the  strange 
manifestations  of  spirit  life,  they  found  the  workings 
of  the  fundamental  laws  the  same.  Often  when  they 
woke  at  night  the  air  was  luminous,  and  they  were 
convinced  that  if  they  remained  there  long  enough  it 
would  be  easy  to  devise  some  telegraphic  code  of  light- 
flashes  by  which  they  could  communicate  with  the 
6]nrit  world,  and  so  get  ideas  from  the  host  of  spirits 
that  had  already  solved  the  problem  of  life  and  death, 
but  who  were  not  as  yet  sufficiently  developed  to  be 
able  to  return  to  the  earth.  One  day  they  stopped  to 
investigate  what  they  had  supposed  to  be  an  optical 
illusion.  They  observed  that  leaves  and  other  light 
substances  floated  several  inches  above  the  surface  of 
the  water  in  the  pools.  On  coming  to  the  edge  and 
making  tests,  they  found  a  light  liquid,  as  invisible  as 
air,  superimposed  upon  the  water,  with  sufficient 
buoyancy  to  sustain  dry  wood  and  also  some  forms  of 
life.  They  also  observed  that  insects  coming  close 
to  the  surface  and  apparently  inhaling  it,  rapidly 
increased  in  size  and  weight,  from  which  they  con- 


A  GREAT  VOID  AND  A  GREAT  LONGIXG.    371 

eluded  it  must  throw  off  nitrogen,  carbon,  or  some 
other  nourishment  in  the  form  of  gas.  The  depth 
upon  the  water  was  unaffected  by  rain,  which  passed 
tlirough  it,  but  depended  rather  on  the  condition  of 
the  atmosphere,  from  which  it  was  evidently  con- 
densed. There  seemed  also  to  be  a  relation  between 
the  amount  of  this  liquid  and  the  activity  of  the  spir- 
its. Finally,  when  their  ammunition  showed  signs  of 
running  low,  they  decided  to  return  to  the  Callista, 
go  in  it  to  the  other  side  of  the  planet,  and  resume 
their  investigations  there.  Accordingly,  they  set  out 
to  retrace  their  steps,  returning  by  a  course  a  few 
miles  to  one  side  of  the  way  they  had  come,  and  mak- 
ing the  cave  their  objective  point.  Arriving  there 
one  evening  about  sunset,  they  pitched  their  camp. 
The  cave  was  sheltered  and  comfortable,  and  they 
made  preparation  for  passing  the  night. 

"  I  shall  be  sorry,"  said  Ayrault,  as  they  sat  near 
their  fire,  "to  leave  this  place  without  again  seeing 
the  bishop.  He  said  we  could  impress  him  anywhere, 
but  it  may  be  more  difficult  to  do  that  at  the  antip- 
odes than  here." 

"  It  does  seem,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  as  though  we 
should  be  missing  it  in  not  seeing  him  again,  if  that 


372  ^^  JOURNEY   IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

is  possible.  Nothing  but  a  poison-storm  brought  him 
the  first  time,  and  it  is  not  certain  that  even  in  such 
an  emergency  would  he  come  again  uncalled." 

''I  think,"  said  Ayrault,  ''as  none  of  the  spirits 
here  are  malevolent,  they  would  warn  us  of  danger  if 
they  could.  The  bishop's  spirit  seems  to  have  been 
the  ouly  one  with  suthciently  developed  power  to  re- 
appear as  a  man.  I  therefore  suggest  that  to-morrow 
we  try  to  make  him  feel  our  thought  and  bring  him 
to  us." 


CHAPTER  YII. 


THE    SPIEIT  S    SECOND    VISIT. 


Accordingly,  the  next  morning  they  concentrated 
their  minds  simultaneously  on  the  spirit,  wishing  with 
all  their  strength  that  he  should  reappear. 

"  Whether  he  be  far  or  near,"  said  Ayrault,  "  he 
must  feel  that,  for  we  are  using  the  entire  force  of 
our  minds." 

Shadows  began  to  form,  and  dancing  prismatic 
colours  appeared,  but  as  yet  there  was  no  sign  of  the 
deceased  bishop,  when  suddenly  he  took  shape  among 
them,  his  appearance  and  disappearance  being  much 
like  that  of  stereopticon  views  on  the  sheet  before  a 
lantern.  He  held  himself  erect,  and  his  thoughtful, 
dignified  face  had  the  same  calm  expression  it  had 
worn  before. 

"  We  attracted  your  attention,"  said  Ayrault,  "  in 
the  way  you  said  we  might,  because  we  longed  so  to 
see  you." 

(373) 


37i  A   JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

"  Yes,"  added  Bearwarden  and  Cortlandt,  "  we 
felt  we  must  see  you  again." 

"  I  am  always  at  your  service,"  replied  the  spirit, 
''  and  will  answer  your  questions.  With  regard  to 
my  visibility  and  invisibility  " — he  continued,  with  a 
smile,  "  for  I  will  not  wait  for  you  to  ask  the  ex- 
planation of  what  is  in  your  minds — it  is  very  simple. 
A  man's  soul  can  never  die ;  a  manifestation  of  the 
soul  is  the  spirit ;  this  has  entity,  consciousness,  and 
will,  and  these  also  live  forever.  As  in  the  natural 
or  material  life,  as  I  shall  call  it,  will  aifects  the 
material  first.  Thus,  a  child  has  power  to  move  its 
hand  or  a  material  object,  as  a  toy,  before  it  can  be- 
come the  medium  in  a  psychological  seance.  So  it  is 
here.  Before  becoming  visible  to  your  eyes,  I,  by 
my  will,  draw  certain  material  substances  in  the  form 
of  gases  from  the  ground,  water,  or  air  around  me. 
These  take  any  shape  I  wish — not  necessarily  that  of 
man,  though  it  is  more  natural  to  appear  as  we  did 
on  earth — and  may  absorb  a  portion  of  light,  and  so 
be  able  to  cast  a  shadow  or  break  up  the  white  rays 
into  prismatic  colours,  or  they  may  be  wholly  in- 
visible. By  an  effort  of  the  will,  then,  I  combine  and 
condense  these   gases — which   consist  principally   of 


THE  SPIRIT'S  SECOND   VISIT.  375 

oxygeD,  hydrogen,  nitrogen,  and  carbon — into  flesh, 
blood,  water,  or  anything  else.  You  have  already 
learned  on  earth  that,  by  the  application  of  heat, 
every  solid  and  every  liquid  substance,  which  is  solid 
or  liquid  simply  because  of  the  temperature  at  which 
you  find  it,  can  be  expanded  into  gas  or  gases ;  and 
that  by  cold  and  pressure  every  gas  can  be  reduced 
to  a  liquid  or  a  solid.  On  earth  the  state  of  a  sub- 
stance, whether  solid,  liquid,  or  gaseous,  depends 
simply  upon  those  two  conditions.  Here  neither 
thermal  nor  barometric  changes  are  required,  for,  by 
mastering  the  new  natural  laws  that  at  death  become 
patent  to  our  senses,  we  have  all  the  necessary  con- 
trol. It  requires  but  an  effort  of  my  will  to  be 
almost  instantly  clothed  in  human  form,  and  but 
another  effort  to  rearrange  the  molecules  in  such  a 
way  as  to  make  the  envelope  visible.  Some  who 
have  been  dead  longer,  or  had  a  greater  natural  apti- 
tude than  I,  have  advanced  further,  and  all  are  learn- 
ing ;  but  the  difference  in  the  rate  at  which  spirits 
acquire  control  of  previously  unknown  natural  laws 
varies  far  more  than  among  individuals  on  earth. 
"  These  forms  of  organic  life  do  not  disintegrate 
till  after  death ;  here  in  the  natural  state  they  break 


376  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 

down  and  dissolve  into  their  structural  elements  in 
full  bloom,  as  was  done  by  the  fungi.  The  poison- 
ous element  in  the  deadly  gust,  against  which  I 
warned  you,  came  from  the  gaseous  ingredients  of 
toadstools,  which  but  seldom,  and  then  only  when 
the  atmosphere  has  the  greatest  affinity  for  them, 
dissolve  automatically,  producing  a  death-spreading 
wave,  against  which  your  meteorological  instruments 
in  future  can  warn  you.  The  slight  fall  you  noticed 
in  temperature  was  because  the  specific  heat  of  these 
gases  is  high,  and  to  become  gas  while  in  the  solid 
state  they  had  to  withdraw  some  warmth  from  the 
air.  The  fatal  breath  of  the  winged  lizards — or 
dragons,  as  you  call  them — results  from  the  same 
cause,  the  action  of  their  digestion  breaking  up  the 
fungus,  which  does  not  kill  them,  because  they  ex- 
hale the  poisonous  part  in  gaseous  form  with  their 
breath.  The  mushrooms  dissolve  more  easily  ;  the 
natural  separation  that  takes  place  as  they  reach  a 
certain  stage  in  their  development  being  precipitated 
by  concussion  or  shock. 

"  Having  seen  that,  as  on  earth,  we  gain  control 
of  the  material  first,  our  acquisitiveness  then  extends 
to  a  better   understanding  and  appreciation  of  our 


THE  SPIRIT'S  SECOND  VISIT.  377 

new  senses,  and  we  are  continually  finding  new  ob- 
jects of  beauty,  and  new  beauties  in  things  we  sup- 
posed we  already  understood.  We  were  accustomed 
on  earth  to  the  marvellous  variety  that  Nature  pro- 
duced from  apparently  simple  means  and  presented 
to  our  very  limited  senses;  here  there  is  an  inde- 
scribably greater  variety  to  be  examined  by  vastly 
keener  senses.  The  souls  in  hell  have  an  equally 
keen  but  distorted  counterpart  of  our  senses,  so  that 
they  see  in  a  magnified  form  everything  vile  in  them- 
selves and  in  each  other.  To  their  senses  only  the 
ugly  and  hateful  side  is  visible,  so  that  the  beauty  and 
perfume  of  a  flower  are  to  them  as  loathsome  as  the 
appearance  and  fumes  of  a  toadstool.  As  evolution 
and  the  tendency  of  everything  to  perpetuate  itself 
and  intensify  its  peculiarities  are  invariable  through- 
out the  universe,  these  unhappy  souls  and  ourselves 
seem  destined  to  diverge  more  and  more  as  time 
goes  on ;  and  while  we  constantly  become  happier  as 
our  capacity  for  happiness  increases,  their  sharpen- 
ing senses  will  give  them  a  worse  and  worse  idea  of 
each  other,  till  their  mutual  repugnance  will  know 
no  bounds,  and  of  everything  concerning  which  they 
obtain  knowledge  through  their  senses.     Thus  these 


378  A   JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

poor  creatures  seem  to  be  the  victims  of  circum- 
stances and  the  unalterable  laws  of  fate,  and  were 
there  such  a  thing  as  death,  their  misery  would  un- 
questionably finally  break  their  hearts.  That  there 
will  be  final  forgiveness  for  the  condemned,  has 
long  been  a  human  hope ;  but  as  yet  they  have 
experienced  none,  and  there  is  no  analogy  for  it  in 
Nature. 

''  But  while  you  have  still  your  earthly  bodies  and 
the  opportunities  they  give  you  of  serving  God,  you 
need  not  be  concerned  about  hell ;  no  one  on  earth, 
knowing  how  things  really  are,  would  ever  again 
forsake  His  ways.  The  earthly  state  is  the  most 
precious  opportunity  of  securing  that  for  which  a 
man  would  give  his  all.  Even  from  the  most  world- 
ly point  of  view,  a  man  is  an  unsjDcakable  fool  not  to 
improve  his  talents  and  do  good.  "What  would  those 
in  sheol  not  give  now  for  but  one  day  in  the  flesh  on 
earth,  of  which  you  unappreciatives  may  still  have  so 
many?  The  well -used  opportunities  of  even  one 
hour  might  bring  joy  to  those  in  jDaradise  forever, 
and  greatly  ease  the  lot  of  those  in  hell.  In  doing 
acts  of  philanthropy,  however,  you  must  remember 
the  text  of  the  sermon  the  doctor  of  divinity  preached 


THE  SPIRIT'S  SECOND  VISIT.  379 

to  Cranmer  and  Kidley  just  before  they  perished 
at  the  stake  :  '  Though  I  give  my  body  to  be  burned, 
and  have  not  charity,  it  profiteth  me  nothing' — 
which  shows  that  even  good  deeds  mnst  be  per- 
formed in  the  proper  spirit. 

"  A  new  era  is  soon  to  dawn  on  earth.  I^otwith- 
standing  your  great  material  progress,  the  future  will 
exceed  all  the  past.  Man  w411  find  every  substance's 
maximum  use,  thereby  vastly  increasing  his  comfort. 
Then,  when  advanced  in  science  and  reason,  with  the 
power  of  his  senses  increased  by  the  delicate  instru- 
ments that  you,  as  the  forerunners  of  the  coming 
man,  are  already  learning  to  make,  may  he  cease  to 
be  a  groveller,  like  our  progenitors  the  quadrupeds, 
and  may  his  thoughts  rise  to  his  Creator,  who  has 
brought  him  to  such  heights  through  all  the  intrica- 
cies of  the  way.  Your  preparation  for  the  life  to 
come  can  also  be  greatly  aided  by  intercourse  with 
those  who  have  already  died.  "When  you  really  want 
to  associate  spiritually  with  us,  you  can  do  so ;  for, 
though  perhaps  only  one  in  a  hundred  million  can, 
like  me,  so  clothe  himself  as  to  be  again  visible  to 
mortal  eyes,  many  of  us  could  affect  gelatine  or  ex- 
tremely sensitive  plates  that  would  show  interrup- 
25 


380  A  JOCRNEY  IN   OTHER  WORLDS. 

tions  in  the  ultra-violet  chemical  rays  that,  like  the 
thermal  red  beyond  the  visible  spectroscope,  you 
know  exist  though  you  can  neither  see  nor  feel  them. 
Spirits  could  not  affect  the  magnetic  eye,  because 
magnetism,  though  immaterial  itself,  is  induced  and 
affected  only  by  a  material  substance.  The  impres- 
sion on  the  plate,  however,  like  the  prismatic  colours 
you  have  already  noticed,  can  be  produced  by  a  slight 
rarefaction  of  the  hydrogen  in  the  air,  so  that,  though 
no  spirit  could  be  photographed  as  such,  a  code  and 
language  might  be  established  by  means  of  the  effect 
produced  on  the  air  by  the  spirit's  mind.  I  am  so 
interested  in  the  subject  of  my  disquisition  that  I  had 
almost  forgotten  that  your  spirits  are  still  subject  to 
the  requirements  of  the  body.  Last  time  I  dined 
with  you ;  let  me  now  play  the  host." 

"  We  shall  be  charmed  to  dine  with  you,"  said 
Ayrault,  "  and  shall  be  only  too  glad  of  anything 
that  will  keep  you  with  us." 

"  Then,"  said  the  spirit,  "  as  the  table-cloth  is 
laid,  we  need  only  to  have  something  on  it.  Let  each 
please  hold  a  corner,"  he  continued,  taking  one  him- 
self with  his  left  hand,  while  he  passed  his  right  to 
his  brow.     Soon  flakes  as  of  snow  began  to  form  in 


THE  SPIRIT'S  SECOND  VISIT.  381 

the  air  above,  and  slowly  descended  upon  the  cloth ; 
and,  glancing  up,  the  three  men  saw  that  for  a  con- 
siderable height  this  process  was  going  on,  the  flakes 
increasing  in  size  as  they  fell  till  they  attained  a 
length  of  several  inches.  When  there  was  enough 
for  them  all  on  the  table-cloth  the  shower  ceased. 
Sitting  down  on  the  ground,  they  began  to  eat  this 
manna,  which  had  a  delicious  flavour  and  marvellous 
purity  and  freshness. 

"As  you  doubtless  have  already  suspected,"  said 
the  spirit,  "  the  basis  of  this  in  every  case  is  carbon, 
combined  with  nitrogen  in  its  solid  form,  and  with 
the  other  gases  the  atmosphere  here  contains.  You 
may  notice  that  the  flakes  vary  in  colour  as  well  as  in 
taste,  both  of  which  are  of  course  governed  by  the 
gas  with  which  the  carbon,  also  in  its  visible  form, 
is  combined.  It  is  almost  the  same  process  as  that 
performed  by  every  plant  in  withdrawing  carbon 
from  the  air  and  storing  it  in  its  trunk  in  the  form 
of  wood,  which,  as  charcoal,  is  again  almost  pure 
carbon,  only  in  this  case  the  metamorphosis  is  far 
more  rapid.  This  is  perhaps  the  natural  law  that 
Elijah,  by  God's  aid,  invoked  in  the  miracle  of  the 
widow's  cruse,  and  that  produced  the  manna  that  fed 


382  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

the  Israelites  in  the  desert ;  while  apergy  came  in  play 
in  the  case  of  the  stream  that  Moses  called  from  the 
rock  in  the  wilderness,  which  followed  the  descend- 
ants of  Abraham  over  the  rough  country  through 
which  they  passed.  In  examining  miracles  with  the 
utmost  deference,  as  we  have  a  right  to,  we  see  one 
law  running:  throuo^h  all.  Even  in  Christ's  miracle 
of  changing  the  water  to  wine,  there  was  a  natural 
law,  though  only  One  has  dwelt  on  earth  who  could 
make  that  change,  which,  from  a  chemist's  stand- 
point, was  peculiarly  difficult  on  account  of  the  re- 
quired fermentation,  which  is  the  result  of  a  devel- 
oped and  matured  germ.  Many  of  His  miracles, 
however,  are  as  far  beyond  my  small  power  as  heaven 
is  above  the  earth.  Much  of  the  substance  of  the 
loaves  and  fishes  with  which  He  fed  the  multitude — 
the  carbon  and  nitrogenous  products — also  came  from 
the  air,  though  He  could  have  taken  them  from  many 
other  sources.  The  combination  and  building  up  of 
these  in  the  ordinary  way  would  have  taken  weeks  or 
months,  but  was  performed  instantaneously  by  His 
mighty  power." 

"  What  natural  laws  are  known  to  you,"  asked 
Bearwarden,     "  that     we     do     not     understand,    or 


THE  SPIRIT'S  SECOND  VISIT.  383 

concerning  the  existence  of  wliich  we  are  igno- 
rant ? " 

"  Most  of  tlie  laws  in  the  invisible  world,"  said 
the  spirit,  "  are  the  counterpart  or  extension  of  laws 
that  appear  on  earth,  though  you  as  yet  understand 
but  a  small  part  of  those,  many  not  having  come  to 
your  notice.  You,  for  instance,  know  that  light, 
heat,  and  motion  are  analogous,  and  either  of  the  last 
two  can  be  converted  into  the  other ;  but  in  practice 
you  produce  motion  of  the  water  molecules  by  the 
application  of  heat,  and  seldom  reverse  it.  One  of 
the  first  things  we  master  here  is  the  power  to  freeze 
or  boil  water,  by  checking  the  motion  of  the  mole- 
cules in  one  case,  and  by  increasing  it,  and  their  mu- 
tual repulsion,  in  the  other.  This  is  by  virtue  of  a 
simple  law,  though  in  this  case  there  is  no  natural 
manifestation  of  it  on  earth  with  which  to  compare 
it.  While  knowledge  must  be  acquired  here  through 
study,  as  on  earth,  the  new  senses  we  receive  with  the 
awakening  from  death  render  the  doing  so  easy, 
though  with  only  the  senses  we  had  before  it  would 
have  been  next  to  impossible. 

"  At  this  moment  snow  is  falling  on  the  Callisto  ; 
but  this  you  could  not  know  by  seeing,  and  scarcely 


384  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER   WORLDS. 

any  degree  of  evolution  conld  develop  your  sight 
sufficiently,  unassisted  by  death.  With  your  instru- 
ments, however,  you  could  already  perceive  it,  not- 
Avithstanding  the  intervening  rocks. 

"  Your  research  on  earth  is  the  best  and  most 
thorough  in  the  history  of  the  race ;  and  could  we 
but  give  you  suggestions  as  to  the  direction  in  which 
to  push  it,  the  difference  between  yourselves  and 
angels  might  be  but  little  more  than  that  between 
the  number  and  intensity  of  the  senses  and  the  com- 
position of  the  body.  By  the  combination  of  natural 
laws  you  have  rid  yourselves  of  the  impediment  of 
material  weight,  and  can  roam  through  space  like 
spirits,  or  as  Columbus,  by  virtue  of  the  confidence 
that  came  with  the  discovery  of  the  mariner's  com- 
pass, roamed  upon  and  explored  the  sea.  You  have 
made  a  good  beginning,  and  were  not  your  lives  so 
short,  and  their  requirements  so  peremptory,  you 
might  visit  the  distant  stars. 

"  I  will  show  you  the  working  of  evolution. 
Life  sleeps  in  minerals,  dreams  in  plants,  and  wakes 
in  you.  The  rock  worn  by  frost  and  age  crumbles 
to  earth  and  soil.  This  enters  the  substance  of  the 
primordial  plant,  which,   slowly  rising,  produces  the 


THE  SPIRIT'S  SECOND  VISIT.  385 

animal  genu.  After  that  the  way  is  clear,  and  man 
is  evolved  from  protoplasm  through  the  vertebrate 
and  the  ape.  Here  we  have  the  epitome  of  the 
struggle  for  life  in  the  ages  past,  and  the  analogue 
of  the  journey  in  the  years  to  come.  Does  not  the 
Almighty  Himself  make  this  clear  where  He  says 
through  his  servant  Isaiah,  '  Behold,  of  these  stones 
will  I  raise  up  children '  ? — and  the  name  Adam 
means  red  earth.  God,  having  brought  man  so  far, 
will  not  Jet  evolution  cease,  and  the  next  stage  of  life 
must  be  the  spiritual." 

"  Can  you  tell  us  anything,"  asked  Ayrault,  "  con- 
cerning the  bodies  that  those  surviving  the  final 
judgment  will  receive  ? " 

"  I^sTotwithstanding  the  unfolding  of  knowledge 
that  has  come  to  us  here,"  replied  the  spirit,  "  there 
are  still  some  subjects  concerning  which  we  must 
look  for  information  to  the  inspired  writers  in  the 
Bible,  and  every  gain  or  discovery  goes  to  prove 
their  veracity.  We  know  that  there  are  celestial 
bodies  and  bodies  terrestrial,  and  that  the  spiritual 
bodies  we  shall  receive  in  the  resurrection  will  have 
power  and  will  be  incorruptible  and  immortal.  We 
also  know  by  analogy  and  reason  that  they  will  be 


386  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

unaffected  by  the  cold  and  void  of  space,  so  that  their 
possessors  can  range  through  the  universe  for  non- 
nillions  and  decilHons  of  miles,  that  they  will  have 
marvellous  capacities  for  enjoying  what  they  find, 
and  that  no  undertaking  or  journey  will  be  too  diffi- 
cult, though  it  be  to  the  centre  of  the  sun.  Though 
many  of  us  can  already  visit  the  remote  regions  of 
space  as  spirits,  none  can  as  yet  see  God ;  but  we 
know^  that  as  the  sight  we  are  to  receive  with  our 
new  bodies  sharpens,  the  pure  in  heart  will  see  Him, 
though  He  is  still  as  invisible  to  the  eyes  of  the 
most  developed  here  as  the  ether  of  space  is  to 
yours." 


CHAPTEE  YIII. 

CASSANDRA    AND    COSMOLOGY. 

The  water-jug  being  empty,  Ayrault  took  it  np, 
and,  crossing  the  ridge  of  a  small  hill,  descended  to 
a  running  brook.  He  had  filled  it,  and  was  straight- 
ening himself,  when  the  stone  on  which  he  stood 
turned,  and  he  might  have  fallen,  had  not  the  bishop, 
of  whose  presence  he  had  been  unaware,  stretched 
out  his  hand  and  upheld  him, 

"I  thought  you  might  need  a  little  help,"  he 
said  with  a  smile,  ''  and  so  walked  beside  you, 
though  you  knew  it  not.  Water  is  heavy,  and  you 
may  not  yet  have  become  accustomed  to  its  Satur- 
nian  weight." 

"Many  thanks,  my  master,"  replied  Ayrault,  re- 
taining his  hand.  "  Were  it  not  that  I  am  engaged 
to  the  girl  I  love,  and  am  sometimes  haunted  by  the 
thought  that  in  my  absence  she  may  be   forgetting 


3S3  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

me,  I  should  wish  to  spend  the  rest  of  my  natural 
life  here,  unless  I  could  persuade  you  to  go  with  me 
to  the  earth." 

"  By  remaining  here,"  replied  the  spirit,  with  a 
sad  look,  "you  would  be  losing  the  most  priceless 
opportunities  of  doing  good.  Neither  will  I  go 
with  you;  but,  as  your  distress  is  real,  I  will  tell 
you  of  anything  happening  on  earth  that  you  wish 
to  know." 

"  Tell  me,  then,  what  the  person  now  in  my 
thoughts  is  doing." 

"  She  is  standing  in  a  window  facing  west,  water- 
ing some  forget-me-nots  with  a  small  silver  sprinkler 
which  has  a  ruby  in  the  handle." 

"  Can  you  see  anything  else  ? " 

"Beneath  the  jewel  is  an  inscription  that  runs: 

'By  those  who  in  warm  July  are  born 
A  single  ruby  should  be  worn  ; 
Then  will  they  be  exempt  and  free 
From  love's  doubts  and  anxiety.' " 

"  Marvellous !  Had  I  any  doubts  as  to  your  pre- 
science and  power,  they  would  be  dispelled  now. 
One  thinir  more  let  me  ask,  however :  Does  she  still 
love  me  ? " 


CASSANDRA  AND  COSMOLOGY.  389 

"  In  her  mind  is  but  one  thought,  and  in  her 
heart  is  an  image — that  of  the  man  before  me.  She 
loves  you  with  all  her  soul." 

"  My  most  eager  wish  is  satisfied,  and  for  the 
moment  my  heart  is  at  rest,"  replied  Ayrault,  as  they 
turned  their  steps  towards  camp.  "  Yet,  such  is  my 
weakness  by  nature,  that,  ere  twenty-four  hours  have 
passed  I  shall  long  to  have  you  tell  me  again." 

"  I  have  been  in  love  myself,"  replied  the  spirit, 
"  and  know  the  feeling ;  yet  to  be  of  the  smallest 
service  to  you  gives  me  far  more  happiness  than  it 
can  give  you.  The  mutual  love  in  paradise  exceeds 
even  the  lover's  love  on  earth,  for  it  is  only  those 
that  loved  and  can  love  that  are  blessed. 

"  You  can  hardly  realize,"  the  bishop  continued, 
as  they  rejoined  Bearwarden  and  Cortlandt,  "  the  joy 
that  a  spirit  in  paradise  experiences  when,  on  reopen- 
ing his  eyes  after  passing  death,  which  is  but  the  por- 
tal, he  finds  himself  endowed  with  sight  that  enables 
him  to  see  such  distances  and  with  such  distinctness. 
The  solar  system,  with  this  ringed  planet,  its  swarm 
of  asteroids,  and  its  intra-Mercurial  planets — one  of 
which,  Yulcan,  you  have  already  discovered — is  a 
beautiful  sight.     The  planets  nearest  the  sun  receive 


390  A  JOURNEY   IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

such  burning  rays  that  their  surfaces  are  red-hot,  and 
at  the  equator  at  periheHon  are  molten.  These  are 
not  seen  from  the  earth,  because,  rising  or  setting 
ahnost  simultaneously  ^vith  the  sun,  they  are  lost  in 
its  rays.  The  great  planet  beyond  Neptune's  orbit  is 
perhaps  the  most  interesting.  This  we  call  Cassan- 
dra, because  it  would  be  a  prophet  of  evil  to  any 
visitor  from  the  stars  who  should  judge  the  solar  sys- 
tem by  it.  This  planet  is  nearly  as  large  as  Jupiter, 
being  80,000  miles  in  diameter,  but  has  a  specific 
gravity  lighter  than  Saturn.  Bode's  law,  you  know, 
says.  Write  down  0,  3,  6,  12,  2-i,  48,  96.  Add  4  to 
each,  and  get  4,  7,  10,  IG,  28,  52,  100  ;  and  this  series 
of  numbers  represents  very  nearly  the  relative  dis- 
tances of  the  planets  from  the  sun.  According  to 
this  law,  you  would  expect  the  planet  next  beyond 
Neptune  to  be  about  5,000,000,000  miles  from  the 
sun.  But  it  is  about  9,500,000,000,  so  that  there  is  a 
gap  between  Xeptune  and  Cassandra,  as  between 
Mars  and  Jupiter,  except  that  in  Cassandra's  case 
there  are  no  asteroids  to  show  where  any  planet  was ; 
we  must,  then,  suppose  it  is  an  exception  to  Bode's 
law,  or  that  there  was  a  planet  that  has  completely 
disappeared.     As  Cassandra  would  be  within  the  law 


CASSANDRA  AND   COSMOLOGY.  39I 

if  there  had  been  an  intermediary  planet,  we  have 
goodi  prima  facie  reason  for  believing  that  it  existed. 
Cassandra  takes,  in  round  numbers,  a  thousand  years 
to  complete  its  orbit,  and  from  it  the  sun,  though 
brighter,  appears  no  larger  than  the  earth's  evening 
or  morning  star.  Cassandra  has  also  three  large 
moons ;  but  these,  when  full,  shine  with  a  pale-grey 
light,  like  the  old  moon  in  the  new  moon's  arms,  in 
that  terrestrial  phenomenon  when  the  earth,  by  re- 
flecting the  crescent's  light,  and  that  of  the  sun,  makes 
the  dark  part  visible.  The  temperature  at  Cassan- 
dra's surface  is  but  little  above  the  cold  of  space,  and 
no  water  exists  in  the  liquid  state,  it  being  as  much  a 
solid  as  aluminum  or  glass.  There  are  rivers  and 
lakes,  but  these  consist  of  liquefied  hydrogen  and 
other  gases,  the  heavier  liquid  collected  in  deep 
places,  and  the  lighter,  with  less  than  half  the  specific 
gravity  of  ether,  floating  upon  it  without  mixing,  as 
oil  on  water.  When  the  heavier  penetrates  to  a  suffi- 
cient depth,  the  interior  being  still  warm,  it  is  con- 
verted into  gas  and  driven  back  to  the  surface,  only 
to  be  recondensed  on  reaching  the  upper  air.  Thus 
it  may  happen  that  two  rains  composed  of  separate 
Hquids  may  fall  together.     There  being  but  little  of 


392  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

any  other  atmosphere,  much  of  it  consists  of  what  you 
might  call  the  vapour  of  hydrogen,  and  many  of  the 
well-known  gases  and  liquids  on  earth  exist  only  as 
liquids  and  solids  ;  so  that,  were  there  mortal  inhab- 
itants on  Cassandra,  they  might  build  their  houses  of 
blocks  of  oxygen  or  chlorine,  as  you  do  of  limestone 
or  marble,  and  use  ice  that  never  melts,  in  place  of 
glass,  for  transparence.  They  w^ould  also  use  mer- 
cury for  bullets  in  their  rifles,  just  as  inhabitants  of 
the  intra- Yulcan  planets  at  the  other  extreme  might, 
if  their  bodies  consisted  of  asbestos,  or  were  in  any 
other  way  non-combustibly  constituted,  bathe  in  tin, 
lead,  or  even  zinc,  which  ordinarily  exist  in  the  liquid 
state,  as  water  and  mercury  do  on  the  earth. 

"  Though  Cassandra's  atmosphere,  such  as  it  is, 
is  mostly  clear,  for  the  evaporation  from  the  rivers 
and  icy  mediterraneans  is  slight,  the  brightness  of 
even  the  highest  noon  is  less  than  an  earthly  twi- 
light, and  the  stars  never  cease  to  shine.  The  dark 
base  of  the  rocky  cliffs  is  washed  by  the  frigid  tide, 
but  there  is  scarcely  a  sound,  for  the  pebbles  can- 
not be  moved  by  the  w^eightless  waves,  and  an  oc- 
casional murmur  is  all  that  is  heard.  Great  rocks 
of  ice  reflect  the  light  of  the  grey  moons,  and  never 


CASSANDEA  AND   COSMOLOGY.  393 

a  leaf  falls  or  a  bird  sings.  With  the  exception  of 
the  mournful  ripples,  the  planet  is  silent  as  the 
grave.  The  animal  and  plant  kingdoms  do  not 
exist ;  only  the  mineral  and  spiritual  worlds.  I  say 
spiritual,  because  there  are  souls  upon  it;  but  it  is 
the  home  of  the  condemned  in  hell.  Here  dwell 
the  transgressors  who  died  unrepentant,  and  those 
who  were  not  saved  by  faith.  This  is  the  one  in- 
stance in  which  I  do  not  enjoy  my  developed  sight, 
for  I  sometimes  glance  in  their  direction,  and  the 
vision  that  meets  me,  as  my  eyes  focus,  distresses 
my  soul.  Their  senses  are  like  an  imperfect  mir- 
ror, magnifying  all  that  is  bad  in  one  another,  and 
distorting  anything  still  partially  good  when  that 
exists.  All  those  things  that  might  at  least  distract 
them  are  hollow,  their  misery  being  the  inevitable 
result  of  the  condition  of  mind  to  which  they  be- 
came accustomed  on  earth  and  which  brouo:ht  them 
to  Cassandra.  But  let  us  turn  to  something  brighter. 
"  Though  the  solar  system  may  seem  complex, 
the  sun  is  but  a  star  among  the  millions  in  the 
Milky  Way,  and,  compared  with  the  planetary  sys- 
tems of  Sirius,  the  stars  of  the  Southern  Cross,  and 
the    motions    of    the    nebula,  it   is    simplicity  itself. 


394  A  JOURNEY   IX   OTHER  WORLDS. 

Compared  with  the  splendour  of  Sirius,  with  its 
diameter  of  twelve  million  miles,  the  sun,  measur- 
ing but  eight  hundred  and  forty  thousand,  becomes 
insignificant;  and  this  giant's  system  includes  groups 
and  clusters  of  planets,  many  with  three  times  the 
mass  of  Jupiter,  five  and  six  together,  each  a  differ- 
ent colour,  revolving  about  a  common  centre,  while 
they  swing  about  their  primary.  Their  numerous 
moons  have  satellites  encircling  them,  with  orbits  in 
some  cases  at  right  angles  to  the  plane  of  the  eclip- 
tic, so  that  they  shine  perpendicularly  on  what  cor- 
respond to  the  arctic  and  antarctic  regions,  while 
their  axes  are  so  inclined  that  the  satellites  turn  a 
complete  somersault  at  each  revolution,  producing 
glistening  effects  of  ice  and  snow  at  the  poles. 
Some  of  the  moons  are  at  a  red  or  white  heat, 
and  so  prevent  the  chill  of  night  on  the  planets, 
while  they  shine  A^ith  more  than  reflected  light. 
In  addition  to  the  five  or  six  large  planets  in  each 
group,  which,  however,  are  many  millions  of  miles 
apart,  there  is  in  some  clusters  a  small  planet  that 
swings  backward  and  forward  across  the  connnon 
centre,  like  a  pendulum,  but  in  nearly  a  straight 
line;  and  while  this  multii)licity  of  motion  goes  on. 


CASSANDRA  AND  COSMOLOGY.  395 

the  whole  aggregation  sweeps  majestically  around 
Sirius,  its  mighty  sun.  Our  little  solar  system  con- 
tains, as  we  know,  about  one  thousand  planets,  sat- 
ellites, and  asteroids  large  enough  to  be  dignified 
by  the  name  of  heavenly  bodies.  Yast  numbers  of 
the  stars  have  a  hundred  and  even  a  thousand  times 
the  mass  of  our  sun,  and  their  systems  being  rela- 
tively as  complex  as  ours — in  some  cases  even  more 
so — they  contain  a  hundred  thousand  or  a  million 
individual  bodies. 

''  Over  sixty  million  bright  or  incandescent  stars 
were  visible  to  the  terrestrial  telescopes  a  hundred 
years  ago,  the  average  size  of  which  far  exceeds  our 
sun.  To  the  magnificent  telescopes  of  to-day  they 
are  literally  countless,  and  the  number  can  be  indefi- 
nitely extended  as  your  optical  resources  grow.  Yet 
the  number  of  stars  you  see  is  utterly  insignificant 
compared  with  the  cold  and  dark  ones  you  cannot 
see,  but  concerning  which  you  are  constantly  learning 
more,  by  observing  their  effect  on  the  bright  ones, 
both  by  perturbing  them  and  by  obscuring  their  rays. 
Occasionally,  as  you  know,  a  star  of  the  twelfth  or 
fifteenth  magnitude,  or  one  that  has  been  invisible, 

flares  up  for  several  months  to  the  fourth  or  fifth, 
26 


39G  A  JOURNEY   IN   OTHER   WORLDS. 

tliroiigli  a  collision  with  some  dark  giant,  and  then 
returns  to  what  it  was  in  the  beginning,  a  gaseous, 
fihny  nebula.  These  innumerable  hosts  of  dark  mon- 
sters, though  dead,  are  centres  of  systems,  like  most 
of  the  stars  you  can  see. 

''  A  slight  consideration  of  these  figures  will  show 
that,  notwithstanding  the  number  of  souls  the  Creator 
has  given  life  on  earth,  each  one  might  in  fact  have  a 
system  to  himself ;  and  that,  however  long  the  little 
irlobe  mav  remain,  as  it  were,  a  mint,  in  which  souls 
are  tried  by  fire  and  moulded,  and  receive  their  final 
stamp,  they  will  always  have  room  to  circulate,  and 
will  be  prized  according  to  the  impress  their  faces  or 
hearts  must  show.  But  Sirius  itself  is  moving  many 
times  faster  than  the  swiftest  cannon  ball,  carrying  its 
system  with  it ;  and  I  see  you  asking,  '  To  what  does 
all  this  motion  tend  ? '  I  will  show  you.  Many  quadril- 
lions of  miles  away,  so  far  that  your  most  powerful 
telescopes  have  not  yet  caught  a  glimmer,  rests  in  its 
serene  grandeur  a  star  that  we  call  Cosmos,  because  it 
is  the  centre  of  this  universe.  Its  diameter  is  as  great 
as  the  diameter  of  Cassandra's  orbit,  and  notwith- 
standing its  terrific  heat,  its  specific  gravity,  on  ac- 
count of  the  irresistible  pressure  at  and  near  the  cen- 


CASSANDRA  AND   COSMOLOGY.  397 

tre,  is  as  great  as  that  of  the  planet  Mercury.  This 
holds  all  that  your  eyes  or  mine  can  see ;  and  the  so- 
called  motions  of  the  stars— for  we  know  that  Sirius, 
among  others,  is  receding— is  but  the  difference  in 
the  rate  at  which  the  different  systems  and  constella- 
tions swing  around  Cosmos,  though  in  doing  so  they 
often  revolve  about  other  systems  or  swing  round 
common  centres,  so  that  many  are  satellites  of  sat- 
ellites many  times  repeated.  The  orbits  of  some  are 
circular,  and  of  others  elliptical,  as  those  of  comets, 
and  some  revolve  about  each  other,  or,  as  we  have 
seen,  about  a  common  point  while  they  perform  their 
celestial  journey.  A  star,  therefore,  recedes  or  ad- 
vances, as  Jupiter  and  Yenus  with  relation  to  the 
earth.  The  planet  in  the  smaller  orbit  moves  faster 
than  that  in  the  larger,  so  that  the  intervening  dis- 
tances wax  and  wane,  though  all  are  going  in  the 
same  general  direction.  In  the  case  of  the  members 
of  the  solar  system,  astronomical  record  can  tell  when 
even  a  most  distant  known  planet  has  been  in  opposi- 
tion or  conjunction ;  but  the  earth  has  scarcely  been 
habitable  since  the  sun  was  last  in  its  present  position 
in  its  orbit  around  Cosmos.  The  curve  that  our  sys- 
tem follows  is  of  such  radius  that  it  would  require  the 


39S  A  JOURNEY   IN   OTHER  WORLDS. 

most  precise  observations  for  centuries  to  show  that 
it  was  not  a  straight  line. 

"  We  call  this  the  unis'erse  because  it  is  all  that 
the  clearest  eyes  or  telescopes  have  been  able  to  see, 
but  it  is  only  a  subdivision — in  fact,  but  a  system  on 
a  vaster  scale  than  that  of  the  sun  or  of  Sirius.  Far 
beyond  this  visible  universe,  my  intuition  tells  me, 
are  other  systems  more  gigantic  than  this,  and  en- 
tirely different  in  many  respects.  Even  the  effects  of 
gravitation  are  modified  by  the  changed  condition ; 
for  these  systems  are  spread  out  flat,  like  the  rings  of 
this  ])lanet,  and  the  ether  of  space  is  luminous  instead 
of  lilack,  as  here.  These  systems  are  but  in  a  later 
stage  of  development  than  ours ;  and  in  the  course  of 
evolution  our  visible  universe  will  be  changed  in  the 
same  way,  as  I  can  explain. 

"  In  incalculable  ages,  the  forward  motion  of  the 
planets  and  their  satellites  will  be  checked  by  the  re- 
sistance of  the  ether  of  space  and  the  meteorites  and 
solid  matter  they  encounter.  Meteorites  also  over- 
take them,  and,  by  striking  them  as  it  were  in  the 
roar,  propel  them,  but  more  are  encountered  in  front 
— an  illustration  of  which  you  can  have  by  walking 
rapidly  or  riding  on  horseback    on  a  rainy  day,  in 


CASSANDRA  AND  COSMOLOGY.  399 

wliicli  case  more  drops  will  strike  your  chest  than 
your  back.  The  same  rule  applies  to  bodies  in  space, 
while  the  meteorites  encountered  have  more  effect 
than  those  following,  since  in  one  case  it  is  the  speed 
of  the  meteor  minus  that  of  the  planet,  and  in  the 
other  the  sum  of  the  two  velocities.  "With  this 
checking  of  the  forward  motion,  the  centrifugal 
force  decreases,  and  the  attraction  of  the  central 
body  has  more  effect.  When  this  takes  place  the 
planet  or  satellite  falls  slightly  towards  the  body 
around  which  it  revolves,  thereby  increasing  its  speed 
till  the  centrifugal  force  again  balances  the  centrip- 
etal. This  would  seem  to  make  it  descend  by  fits 
and  starts,  but  in  reality  the  approach  is  nearly  con- 
stant, so  that  the  orbits  are  in  fact  slightly  spiral. 
What  is  true  of  the  planets  and  satellites  is  also  true 
of  the  stars  with  reference  to  Cosmos ;  though  many 
even  of  these  have  subordinate  motions  in  their  great 
journey.  Though  the  satellites  of  the  moons  revolve 
about  the  primaries  in  orbits  inclined  at  all  kinds  of 
angles  to  the  planes  of  the  ecliptics,  and  even  the 
moons  vary  in  their  paths  about  the  planets,  the 
planets  themselves  revolve  about  the  stars,  like  those 
of  this  system  about  the  sun,  in  substantially  the  same 


400  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

plane ;  and  what  is  true  of  the  planets  is  even  more 
true  of  the  stars  in  their  orbits  about  Cosmos,  so  that 
when,  after  incalculable  ages,  they  do  fall,  they  strike 
this  monster  sun  at  or  near  its  equator,  and  not  fall- 
ing perpendicularly,  but  in  a  line  varying  but  slightly 
from  a  tangent,  and  at  terrific  speed,  they  cause  the 
colossus  to  rotate  more  and  more  rapidly  on  its  own 
axis,  till  it  must  become  greatly  flattened  at  the  poles, 
as  the  earth  is  slightly,  and  as  Jupiter  and  Saturn  are 
a  good  deal.  Even  though  not  all  the  stars  are  ex- 
actly in  the  plane  of  Cosmos's  equator,  as  you  can  see 
they  are  not  there  are  as  many  above  as  below  it,  so 
that  the  general  average  will  be  there ;  and  as  all  are 
moving  in  the  same  direction,  it  is  not  necessary  for 
all  to  strike  the  same  line,  those  striking  nearer  the 
poles,  where  the  circles  are  smaller,  and  where  the 
surface  is  not  being  carried  forward  so  fast  by  the 
giant's  rotation,  will  have  even  more  effect  in  increas- 
ing its  speed,  since  it  will  be  like  attaching  the  driv- 
ing-rods of  a  locomotive  near  the  axle  instead  of  near 
the  circumference,  and  with  enough  power  will  pro- 
duce even  greater  results.  As  Cosmos  waxes  greater 
from  the  result  of  these  continual  accretions,  its  at- 
traction for  the  stars  will  increase,  until  those  cominof 


CASSANDRA  AND  COSMOLOGY.  401 

from  the  outer  regions  of  its  universe  will  move  at 
such  terrific  speed  in  their  spiral  orbits  that  before 
coming  in  contact  they  will  be  almost  invisible,  hav- 
ing already  absorbed  all  solid  matter  revolving  about 
themselves.  These  accessions  of  moving  matter,  con- 
tinually received  at  and  near  its  equator,  will  cause 
Cosmos  to  spread  out  like  Saturn's  rings  till  it  be- 
comes flat,  though  the  balance  of  forces  will  be  so 
perfect  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  an  animal  or  a 
man  placed  there  would  feel  much  change. 

"But  these  universes — or,  more  accurately,  divis- 
ions of  the  universe — already  planes,  though  the  vast 
surfaces  are  not  so  flat  as  to  preclude  beautiful  and 
gently  rolling  slopes,  are  spirit-lands,  and  will  be  in- 
habited only  by  spirits.  Then  there  are  great  phospho- 
rescent areas,  and  the  colour  of  the  surface  changes 
with  every  hour  of  the  day,  from  the  most  brilliant 
crimson  to  the  softest  shade  of  blue,  radiant  with 
many  colours  that  your  eyes  cannot  now  see.  There 
are  also  myriads  of  scented  streams,  consisting  of 
hundreds  of  different  and  multi-coloured  liquids,  each 
with  a  perfume  sweeter  than  the  most  delicate  flow- 
er, and  pouring  forth  the  most  heavenly  music  as  they 
go  on  their  way.     But  be  not  surprised  at  the  magni- 


402  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

tude  of  the  change,  for  is  it  not  written  in  Revela- 
tion, '  I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth ;  for  the 
first  heaven  and  the  first  eartli  were  passed  awaj '  ? 
Xor  can  we  be  surprised  at  vastness,  sublimity,  and 
beauty  such  as  never  was  conceived  of,  for  do  we  not 
find  this  in  His  word,  '  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear 
lieard,  neither  have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man, 
the  things  which  God  hath  prepared  for  them  that 
love  Him '  ?  In  this  blissful  state,  those  that  feared 
God  and  obeyed  their  consciences  will  live  on  for- 
ever ;  but  their  rest  can  never  become  stagnation,  for 
evolution  is  one  of  the  most  constant  laws,  and  never 
ceases,  and  they  must  always  go  onward  and  upward, 
unspeakably  blessed  by  the  consciences  they  made 
their  rule  in  life,  till  in  purit}^  and  power  they  shall 
equal  or  exceed  the  angels  of  their  Lord  in  heaven. 

"  But  you  men  of  finite  understanding  will  ask, 
as  I  myself  should  have  asked.  How,  by  the  law  of 
hydrostatics,  can  liquids  flow  on  a  plane  ?  Eemem- 
ber  that,  though  these  divisions  are  astronomical  or 
geometrical  planes,  their  surfaces  undulate  ;  but  the 
moving  cause  is  this  :  At  the  centre  of  these  planes 
is  a  pole,  the  analogue,  we  will  say,  of  the  magnetic 
pole  on  earth,  that  has  a  more  effective  attraction  for 


CASSANDRA  AND  COSMOLOGY.  403 

a  gas  than  for  a  liquid.  "When  liquids  approach  the 
periphery  of  the  circle,  the  rapid  rotation  and  de- 
creased pressure  cause  them  to  break  up,  whereupon 
the  elementary  gases  return  to  the  centre  in  the 
atmosphere,  if  near  the  surface,  forming  a  gentle 
breeze.  On  nearing  the  centre,  the  cause  of  the  sep- 
aration being  removed,  the  gases  reunite  to  form  a 
liquid,  and  the  centrifugal  force  again  sends  this  on 
its  journey." 

"  Is  there  no  way,"  asked  Bearwarden,  ''  by  which 
a  man  may  retrieve  himself,  if  he  has  lost  or  misused 
his  opportunities  on  earth  ?  " 

"  The  way  a  man  lays  up  treasures  in  heaven, 
when  on  earth,"  replied  the  spirit,  "  is  by  gladly  do- 
ing something  for  some  one  else,  usually  in  some 
form  sacrificing  self.  In  hell  no  one  can  do  anything 
for  any  one  else,  because  every  one  can  have  the  sem- 
blance of  anything  he  wishes  by  merely  concentrat- 
ing his  mind  upon  it,  though,  when  he  has  it,  it  is 
but  a  shadow  and  gives  him  no  pleasure.  Thus  no 
one  can  give  any  one  else  anything  he  cannot  obtain 
himself ;  and  if  he  could,  since  it  woidd  be  no  sacri- 
fice on  his  part,  he  would  derive  ho  great  moral  com- 
fort from  it.     Neither  can  any  one  comfort  any  one 


404:  A  JOURXEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

else  bj  putting  his  acts  or  offences  in  a  new  liglit,  for 
every  one  knows  tlie  whole  truth  about  himself  and 
everybody  else,  so  that  nothing  can  be  made  to  ap- 
pear favourably  or  unfavourably.  All  this,  however, 
is  supposing  there  is  the  desire  to  be  kind  ;  but  how 
can  spirits  that  were  selfish  and  ill-disposed  on  earth, 
where  there  are  so  many  softening  influences,  have 
good  inclinations  in  hell,  where  they  loathe  one  an- 
other w^ith  constantly  increasing  strength  ? 

"  Inasmuch  as  both  the  good  and  the  bad  continue 
on  the  lines  on  which  they  started  when  on  earth,  we 
are  continually  drawing  nearer  to  God,  while  they 
are  departing.  The  gulf  may  be  only  one  of  feeling, 
but  that  is  enough.  It  follows,  then,  that  with  God 
as  our  limit,  which  we  of  course  can  never  reach, 
their  limit,  in  the  geometrical  sense,  must  be  total 
separation  from  Ilim.  Though  all  spirits,  we  are 
told,  live  forever,  it  occurs  to  me  that  in  God's 
mercy  there  may  be  a  gradual  end  ;  for  though  to 
the  happy  souls  in  heaven  a  thousand  years  may  seem 
as  nothing,  existence  in  hell  must  drag  along  with 
leaden  limbs,  and  a  single  hour  seem  like  a  lifetime 
of  regret.  Since  it  is  dreadful  to  think  that  such 
unsoothed  anguish   should  continue  forever,   I  have 


CASSANDRA  AND  COSMOLOGY.  405 

often  pondered  whether  it  might  not  be  that,  bj  a 
form  of  involution  and  reversal  of  the  past  law,  the 
spirit  that  came  to  life  evolved  from  the  mineral, 
plant,  and  animal  worlds,  may  mercifully  retrace  its 
steps  one  by  one,  till  finally  the  soul  shall  penetrate 
the  solid  rock  and  hide  itself  by  becoming  part  of  the 
planet.  Many  people  in  my  day  believed  that  after 
death  their  souls  would  enter  stately  trees,  and  spread 
abroad  great  branches,  dropping  dead  leaves  over  the 
places  on  which  they  had  stood  while  on  earth.  This 
might  be  the  last  step  in  the  awful  tragedy  of  the  fall 
and  involution  of  a  human  soul.  In  this  way,  those 
who  had  wasted  the  priceless  opportunities  given 
them  by  God  might  be  mercifully  obliterated,  for  it 
seems  as  if  they  would  not  be  needed  in  the  economy 
of  the  universe.  The  Bible,  however,  mentions  no 
such  end,  and  says  unmistakably  that  hell  will  last 
forever ;  so  that  in  this  supposition,  as  in  many 
others,  the  wish  is  probably  father  of  the  thought.'' 

"  But,"  persisted  Bearwarden,  "  how  about  death- 
bed repentances  ? " 

"  Those,"  replied  the  spirit,  "  are  few  and  far  be- 
tween. The  pains  of  death  at  the  last  hour  leave  but 
little  room  for  aught  but  vain  regret.     A  man  dies 


406  ^  JOCRNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

suddenly,  or  may  be  unconscious  some  time  before 
the  end.  But  they  do  occur.  The  question  is,  How 
nmch  credit  is  it  to  be  good  when  you  can  do  no 
more  harm?  The  time  to  resist  evil  and  do  that 
which  is  right  is  while  the  temptation  is  on  and  in 
its  strength.  While  life  lasts  there  is  hope,  but  the 
books  are  sealed  by  death.  The  tree  must  fall  to  one 
side  or  the  other — there  is  no  middle  ground — and  as 
the  tree  falleth,  so  it  lieth. 

"  This,  however,  is  a  gloomy  subject,  and  one  that 
in  your  heart  of  hearts  you  understand.  I  would 
rather  tell  you  more  of  the  beauties  and  splendours 
of  space — of  the  orange,  red,  and  blue  stars,  and  of 
the  tremendous  cyclonic  movements  going  on  within 
them,  which  are  even  more  violent  than  the  storms 
that  rage  in  the  sun.  The  clouds,  as  the  spectroscope 
has  already  shown,  consist  of  iron,  gold,  and  plati- 
num in  the  form  of  vapour,  while  the  openings  re- 
vealed by  sun-spots,  or  rather  star-spots,  are  so  tre- 
mendous that  a  comparatively  small  one  would  con- 
tain many  dozen  such  globes  as  the  earth.  I  could 
tell  you  also  of  the  mysteries  of  the  great  dark  com- 
panions of  some  of  the  stars,  and  of  the  stars  that  are 
themselves  dark  and  cold,  with  naught  but  the  far-' 


CASSANDRA  AND  COSMOLOGY.  407 

away  constellations  to  cheer  them,  on  which  night 
reigns  eternally,  and  that  far  outnumber  the  stars 
you  can  see.  Also  of  the  nmltiplicity  of  sex  and  ex- 
traordinary forms  of  life  that  exist  there,  though  on 
none  of  them  are  there  mortal  men  like  those  on 
the  earth. 

"Nature,  in  the  process  of  evolution,  has  in 
all  these  cases  gone  off  on  an  entirely  different  course, 
the  most  intelligent  and  highly  developed  species  be- 
ing in  the  form  of  marvellously  complex  reptiles, 
winged  serpents  that  sing  most  beautifully,  but 
whose  blood  is  cold,  being  prevented  from  freezing 
in  the  upper  regions  of  the  atmosphere  by  the  pres- 
ence of  salt  and  chemicals,  and  which  are  so  intelli- 
gent that  they  have  practically  subdued  many  of 
these  dark  stars  to  themselves.  On  others,  the  most 
highly  developed  species  have  hollow,  bell-shaped 
tentacles,  into  which  they  inject  two  or  more  oppos- 
ing gases  from  opposite  sides  of  their  bodies,  which, 
in  combination,  produce  a  strong  explosion.  This 
provides  them  with  an  easy  and  rapid  locomotion, 
since  the  explosions  find  a  sufficient  resistance  in  the 
surrounding  air  to  propel  the  monsters  much  faster 
than  birds.     These  can  at  pleasure  make  their  breath 


408  A  JOURNEY   IN   OTHER   WORLDS. 

SO  poisonous  that  the  lungs  of  any  creatures  except 
themselves  inhaling  it  are  at  once  turned  to  parch- 
ment. Others  can  give  their  enemies  or  their  prey 
an  electric  shock,  sending  a  bolt  through  the  heart, 
or  can  paralyze  the  mind  physically  by  an  effort  of 
their  wills,  causing  the  brain  to  decompose  while  the 
victim  is  still  alive.  Others  have  the  same  power  that 
snakes  have,  though  vastly  intensified,  mesmerizing 
their  victims  from  afar.  Still  others  have  such  deli- 
cate senses  that  in  a  way  they  commune  with  spirits, 
though  they  have  no  souls  themselves ;  for  in  no  part 
or  corner  of  the  universe  except  on  earth  are  there 
animals  that  have  souls.  Yet  they  know  the  meaning 
of  the  word,  and  often  bewail  their  hard  lot  in  that 
no  part  of  them  can  live  when  the  heart  has  ceased 
to  beat. 

"  Ah,  my  friends,  if  we  had  no  souls — if,  like 
the  aesthetic  reptilia,  we  knew  that  when  our  dust 
dissolved  our  existence  would  be  over — we  should 
realize  the  preciousness  of  what  we  hold  so  lightly 
now.  Man  and  the  spirits  and  angels  are  the  only 
beings  with  souls,  and  in  no  place  except  on  earth  are 
new  souls  being  created.  This  gives  you  the  great- 
est and  grandest  idea  of  the  dignity  of  life  and  its 


CASSANDRA  AND   COSMOLOGY.  409 

inestimable  value.  But  it  is  as  difficult  to  describe 
the  liia;lier  wonders  of  the  stellar  worlds  to  yon  as  to 
picture  the  glories  of  sunset  to  a  blind  man,  for  you 
have  experienced  nothing  with  which  to  compare 
them.  Instead  of  seeing  all  that  really  is,  you  see 
but  a  small  part." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

DOCTOR    COETLANDT    SEES    HIS    GRAVE. 

"Is  it  not  distasteful  to  yon,"  Cortlandt  asked, 
"  to  live  so  near  these  loathsome  dragons  ? " 

"  Xot  in  the  least,"  replied  the  spirit.  "  They 
affect  us  no  more  than  the  smallest  micro-organism, 
for  we  see  both  with  equal  clearness.  Since  we  are 
not  obliged  to  breathe,  they  cannot  injure  us ;  and, 
besides,  they  serve  to  illustrate  the  working  of  God's 
laws,  and  there  is  beauty  in  everything  for  those  that 
have  the  senses  required  for  perceiving  it.  A  fea- 
ture of  the  spiritual  world  is,  that  it  does  not  inter- 
fere with  the  natural,  and  the  natural,  except  through 
faith,  is  not  aware  of  its  presence." 

"  Then  why,"  asked  Cortlandt,  "  was  it  necessary 
for  the  Almighty  to  bring  your  souls  to  Saturn,  since 
there  would  have  been  no  overcrowding  if  you  had 
remained  on  the  earth  ? " 

(410) 


DOCTOR  CORTLANDT  SEES  HIS  GRAVE.       411 

"  That,"  replied  the  spirit,  "  was  part  of  His  wis- 
dom ;  for  the  spirit,  being  able  at  once  to  look  back 
into  the  natural  world,  if  in  it,  would  be  troubled  at 
the  mistakes  and  tribulations  of  his  friends.  Now, 
as  a  rule,  before  a  spirit  can  return  to  earth,  his  or 
her  relatives  and  friends  have  also  died  ;  or,  if  he  can 
return  before  that  happens,  he  is  so  advanced  that  he 
sees  the  ulterior  purpose,  and  therefore  the  wisdom 
of  God's  w^ays,  and  is  not  distressed  thereby.  Lastly, 
as  their  expanding  senses  grew,  it  would  be  painful 
for  the  blessed  and  condemned  spirits  to  be  together. 
Therefore  we  are  brought  here,  where  God  reveals 
Himself  to  us  more  and  more,  and  the  flight  of  the 
other  souls — those  unhappy  ones — does  not  cease  till 
they  reach  Cassandra." 

"  Can  the  souls  on  Cassandra  also  leave  it  in  time 
and  roam  at  will  ? "  asked  Cortlandt. 

"  I  have  seen  none  of  them  myself  in  my  journeys 

to  other  planets  ;  but  as  the  sun  shines  upon  the  just 

and  the  unjust,  and  there  is  no  exception  to  Nature's 

laws,  I  can  reply  that  in  time  they  do,  and  with  equal 

powers  their  incentive  to  roam  would  be  greater ;  for 

we  are  drawn    together   by  common  sympathy  and 

pure,    requited    love,    while    they   are    mutually   re- 
27 


412  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

pelled.  Of  course,  some  obtain  a  measure  of  free- 
dom before  the  rest,  and  these  naturally  roam  the 
farthest,  and  the  more  they  see  and  the  farther  they 
go,  the  stronger  becomes  their  abhorrence  for  every- 
thing they  meet." 

''  Cannot  you  spirits  help  us,  and  the  mortals  now 
on  earth,  to  escape  this  fate  ?  " 

"The  greatest  hope  for  your  bodies  and  souls 
lies  in  the  communion  with  those  that  have  passed 
through  death ;  for  the  least  of  them  can  tell  you 
more  than  the  wisest  man  on  earth ;  and  could  you  all 
come  or  send  representatives  to  the  multitudes  here 
who  cannot  as  yet  return  to  you,  but  few  on  earth 
would  be  so  quixotically  sinful  as  to  refuse  our  ad- 
vice. Since,  however,  the  greatest  good  comes  to 
men  from  the  learning  that  they  make  an  effort  to 
secure,  it  is  for  you  to  strive  to  reach  us,  who  can  act 
as  go-betweens  from  God  to  you." 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  that  people 
are  better  now  than  formerly.  The  sin  of  idolatry, 
for  instance,  has  disappeared — has  it  not  ? " 

"  Men  still  set  up  idols  of  wealth,  passion,  or  am- 
bition in  their  hearts.  These  they  worship  as  in  days 
gone  by,  only  the  form  has  changed." 


DOCTOR  CORTLANDT  SEES  HIS  GRAVE.       413 

"Could  tlie  souls  on  Cassandra  do  us  bodily  or 
mental  injury,  if  we  could  ever  reach  their  planet  ? " 
asked  Bear  warden. 

"  They  might  oppress  and  distress  you,  but  your 
faith  would  protect  you  wherever  you  might  go." 

"Can  you  give  us  a  taste  of  your  sense  of  pre- 
science ? "  asked  Bearwardon  again ;  "  for,  since  it  is 
not  clear  in  what  degree  the  condemned  receive 
this,  and  neither  is  it  by  any  means  sure  that  I  shall 
be  saved,  I  should  like  for  once  in  my  history  to  ex- 
perience this  sense  of  divinity,  before  my  entity  ends 
in  stone." 

"  I  will  transfer  to  you  my  sense  of  prescience," 
replied  the  spirit,  "  that  you  may  foresee  as  prophets 
have.  In  so  doing,  I  shall  but  anticipate,  since  you 
will  yourselves  in  time  obtain  this  sense  in  a  greater 
or  less  degree.  Is  there  any  event  in  the  future  yoti 
would  like  .to  see,  in  order  that,  when  the  vision  is 
fulfilled,  it  may  tend  to  stablish  your  faith  ? " 

"  Since  I  am  the  oldest,"  replied  the  doctor,  "  and 
shall  probably  die  before  my  friends,  reveal  to  us,  I 
pray  you,  the  manner  of  my  death  and  the  events 
immediately  following.  This  may  prove  an  object- 
lesson  to  them,  and  will  greatly  interest  me." 


4U      A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

'•  Your  death  will  be  caused  by  blood-poisoning, 
brought  on  by  an  accident,"  began  the  spirit.  "  Some 
daybreak  will  find  you  weak,  after  a  troubled  ni^ht. 
with  your  bodily  resources  at  a  low  ebb.  Sunset  will 
see  you  weaker,  with  your  power  of  resistance  almost 
gone.  Midnight  will  find  you  weaker  still,  and  but 
little  removed  from  the  point  of  death.  A  few  hours 
later  a  kind  hand  will  close  the  lids  of  your  half-shut 
eyes,  which  never  again  will  behold  the  light.  The 
coffin  will  inclose  your  body,  and  the  last  earthly 
journey  begin.  Now,"  the  spirit  continued,  "you 
shall  all  use  my  sight  instead  of  your  own." 

The  walls  of  the  cave  seemed  to  expand,  till  they 
resembled  those  of  a  great  cathedral,  while  the  stalac- 
tites appeared  to  be  metamorphosed  into  Gothic  col- 
umns. They  found  themselves  among  a  large  con- 
gregation that  had  come  to  attend  the  last  sad  rites, 
while  the  great  organ  played  Chopin's  "  Funeral 
March."  The  high  vault  and  arches  received  the 
organ's  tone,  and  a  sombre  light  pervaded  the  inte- 
rior. There  was  a  slight  flutter  and  a  craning  of 
necks  among  those  in  the  pews,  as  the  procession  be- 
gan to  ascend  the  aisle.  AVhile  the  slow  step  of  the 
pallbearers  and  those  carrying  the  coffin  sounded  on 


They  look  into  the  future. 


DOCTOR  CORTLANDT  SEES  HIS  GRAVE.       415 

the  stone  floor,  the  clear  voice  of  the  clergyman  that 
headed  the  procession  sounded  these  words  through 
the  cathedral :  "  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth, 
and  that  He  shall  stand  at  the  latter  day  upon  the 
earth."  As  the  bier  advanced,  Beargarden  and  Ay- 
rault  recognized  themselves  among  the  pallbearers— 
the  former  with  grey  mustache  and  hair,  the  latter 
considerably  aged.  The  hermetically  sealed  lead  cof- 
fin was  inclosed  in  a  wooden  case,  and  the  whole  was 
draped  and  covered  with  flowers. 

"  Oh,  my  faith !"  cried  Cortlandt,  "  I  see  my  face 
within,  yet  it  is  but  a  decomposing  mass  that  I  once 
described  as  I." 

Then  again  did  the  minister's  voice  proclaim,  ''  I 
am  the  resurrection  and  the  life,  saith  the  Lord ;  he 
that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall 
he  live;  and  whosoever  liveth  and  beheveth  in  me 
shall  never  die." 

The  bearers  gently  set  down  their  burden;  the 
minister  read  the  ever-impressive  chapter  of  St.  Paul 
to  the  Corinthians ;  a  bishop  solemnly  and  silently 
sprinkled  earth  on  the  cofiin  ;  and  the  choir  sang  the 
398th  hymn,  beginning  with  the  words,  "  Hark,  hark 
my  soul !  angelic  songs  are  swelling,"  which  had  al- 


416  A  JOURXEY  IX   OTHER  WORLDS. 

ways  been  Cortlandt's  favourite,  and  tlie  service  was 
at  an  end.  The  bearers  again  shouldered  all  that  was 
left  of  Ilenrj  Cortlandt,  and  his  relatives  accom- 
panied this  to  the  cemetery. 

Then  came  a  sweeping  change  of  scene.  A  host 
of  monuments  and  gravestones  reflected  the  sunlight, 
while  a  broad  river  ebbed  and  flowed  between  high 
banks.  A  sexton  and  a  watchman  stood  by  a  granite 
vault,  the  heavy  door  of  which  they  had  opened  with 
a  large  key.  Hard  by  were  some  gardeners  and  la- 
bourers, and  also  a  crowd  of  curiosity-seekers  who 
had  come  to  witness  the  last  sad  rites.  Presently  a 
funeral  procession  appeared.  The  hearse  stoj)ped 
near  the  open  vault,  over  the  door  of  which  stood  out 
the  name  of  Cortlaxdt,  and  the  accompanying  min- 
ister said  a  short  prayer,  while  all  present  uncovered  ^ 
their  heads.  After  this  the  coffin  was  borne  within 
and  set  at  rest  upon  a  slab,  among  many  generations 
of  Cortlandts.  In  the  hearts  of  the  relatives  and 
friends  was  genuine  sorrow,  but  the  curiosity-seekers 
went  their  way  and  gave  little  thought.  "  To-morrow 
will  be  like  to-day,"  they  said,  "and  more  great  men 
will  die." 

Then   came  another  change  of  scene,  though  it 


DOCTOR  CORTLANDT  SEES  HIS  GRAVE.       417 

was  comparatively  sliglit.  The  sun  slowly  sank  be- 
yond the  farther  bank  of  the  broad  river,  and  the 
moon  and  stars  shone  softly  on  the  gravestones  and 
crosses.  Two  gardeners  smoked  their  short  clay 
pipes  on  a  bench  before  the  Cortlandt  vault,  and 
talked  in  a  slow  manner. 

"He  was  a  great  man,"  said  one,  "and  if  his 
soul  blooms  like  the  flowers  on  his  grave,  he  must 
be  in  paradise,  which  we  know  is  a  finer  park  than 
this." 

"  He  was  expert  for  the  Government  when  the 
earth's  axis  was  set  right,"  said  the  second  gardener, 
"and  he  must  have  been  a  scholar,  for  his  calcula- 
tions have  all  come  true.  He  was  one  of  the  first 
three  men  to  visit  the  other  planets,  while  the  obitu- 
aries in  the  papers  say  his  history  will  be  read  here- 
after like  the  books  of  Csesar.  After  burying  all 
these  great  people,  I  sometimes  wish  I  could  do 
the  same  for  myself,  for  the  people  I  bury  seem 
to  be  remembered."  After  this  they  relapsed  into 
their  meditations,  the  silence  being  broken  only 
by  an  occasional  murmur  from  the  river's  steady 
flow. 

Hereupon   the  voyagers   found   they   were   once 


418  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

more  in  the  cave.  Tlie  fire  had  burned  low,  and  the 
dawn  was  already  in  the  east.  Cortlandt  wiped  his 
forehead,  shivered,  and  looked  extremely  pale. 

''  Thank  Heaven,''  he  cried,  "  we  cannot  ordina- 
rily foresee  our  end  ;  for  but  few  would  attain  their 
predestined  ending  could  they  see  it  in  advance. 
May  the  veil  not  again  be  raised,  lest  I  faint  before 
it  I  I  looked  in  vain  for  my  soul,-'  he  continued, 
"  but  could  see  it  nowhere." 

"The  souls  of  those  dying  young,"  replied  the 
spirit,  "  sometimes  wish  to  hover  near  their  ashes  as  if 
regretting  an  unfinished  life,  or  the  opportunities 
that  have  departed ;  but  those  dying  after  middle  age 
are  usually  glad  to  be  free  from  their  bodies,  and 
seldom  think  of  them  again." 

"  I  shall  append  the  lines  now  in  my  head  to  my 
history,"  said  Cortlandt,  "that  where  it  goes  they 
may  go  also.  They  can  scarcely  fail  to  be  instruct- 
ive as  the  conclusions  of  a  man  who  has  seen  beyond 
his  grave."  Whereupon  he  wrote  a  stanza  in  his 
note-book,  and  closed  it  without  showing  his  com- 
panions what  he  had  written. 

"  May  they  do  all  the  good  you  hope,  and  much 
more!"  replied   the  spirit,   "for  the  reward   in  the 


DOCTOR  CORTLANDT  SEES  HIS  GRAVE.       419 

resurrection    morning   will    vastly  exceed    all    your 
labours  now. 

"O,  my  friends,"  the  spirit  continued  most  ear- 
nestly, addressing  tlie  three,  "are  you  prepared  for 
your  death-beds  ?  "When  your  eyes  glaze  in  their  last 
sleep,  and  you  lose  that  temporal  world  and  what  you 
perhaps  considered  all,  as  in  a  haze,  your  dim  vision 
will  then  be  displaced  by  the  true  creation  that  will 
be  eternal.  Your  unattained  ambitions,  your  hopes, 
and  your  ideals  will  be  swallowed  in  the  grave. 
Your  works  will  secure  you  a  place  in  history,  and 
many  will  remember  your  names  until,  in  time,  ob- 
livion covers  your  memory  as  the  grass  conceals  your 
tombs.  Are  you  prepared  for  the  time  when  your 
eyes  become  blind,  and  your  trusted  senses  fail  ? 
Your  sorrowing  friends  will  mourn,  and  the  flags  of 
your  clubs  will  fly  at  half-mast,  but  no  earthly  thing 
can  help  you  then.  In  what  condition  will  the 
resurrection  morning  find  you,  when  your  sins  of 
neglect  and  commission  plead  for  vengeance,  as 
Abel's  blood  from  the  ground?  After  that  there 
can  be  no  change.  The  classification,  as  I  have  al- 
ready told  you,  is  now  going  on ;  it  will  then  be 
finished." 


420  ^  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

"  AVe  are  the  most  utterly  wretched  sinners !  " 
cried  Avraiilt.     "  Show  us  how  we  can  be  saved." 

''  As  an  inhabitant  of  spirit-land,  I  will  give  yoii 
worldly  counsel,"  replied  the  bishop.  "  Daring  my 
earthly  administration,  as  I  told  you,  people  came 
from  far  to  hear  me  preach.  This  was  because  I  had 
eloquence  and  earnestness,  both  gifts  of  God.  But  I 
was  a  miserably  weak  sinner  myself.  That  which  I 
would  I  did  not,  and  that  which  I  would  not  that  I 
did ;  and  I  often  prayed  my  congregation  to  follow 
my  sermons  rather  than  my  ways.  I  seemed  to  do 
my  followers  good,  and  Daniel  thus  commends  my 
way  in  his  last  chapter :  '  They  that  turn  many  to 
righteousness  shall  shine  as  the  stars  forever  and 
ev^er,'  and  the  explanation  is  clear.  There  is  no 
surer  way  of  learning  than  trying  to  teach.  In 
teaching  my  several  ilocks  I  was  also  improved  my- 
self. I  was  sown  in  weakness,  but  was  raised  in 
power,  strength  being  made  perfect  in  weakness. 
Therefore  improve  your  fellows,  though  yourself  you 
cannot  raise.  The  knowledge  that  you  have  sent 
many  souls  to  heaven,  though  you  are  yourself  a  cast- 
away, will  give  you  unspeakable  joy,  and  place  you 
in    heaven  wherever   you  may  be.      Yet  remember 


DOCTOR  CORTLANDT  SEES  HIS  GRAVE.       421 

this :  none  of  us  can  win  lieaven  ;  salvation  is  the  gift 
of  God.  I  have  said  as  much  now  as  you  can  re- 
member. Farewell.  Improve  time  while  you  can. 
Fear  God  and  keej3  His  commandments.  This  is  the 
w^hole  duty  of  man.'' 

So  saying,  the  spirit  vanished  in  a  cloud  that  for 
a  time  emitted  light. 

"  I  am  not  surprised,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  that 
people  took  long  journeys  to  hear  him.  I  would  do 
so  myself." 

"  I  have  never  had  much  fear  of  death,"  said 
Cortlandt,  "  but  the  mere  thought  of  it  now  makes 
my  knees  shake,  and  fills  my  heart  with  dread.  I 
thought  I  saw  the  most  hateful  forms  about  my 
coffin,  and  imagined  that  they  might  be  the  personi- 
fication of  doubt,  coldness,  and  my  other  shortcom- 
ings, which  had  come  perhaps  from  sympathy,  in 
invisible  form.  I  was  almost  afraid  to  ask  the  spirit 
for  the  explanation." 

"I  saw  them  also,"  replied  Bearwarden,  "but 
took  them  to  be  swarms  of  microbes  waitinc:  to  de- 
stroy  your  body,  or  perhaps  trying  in  vain  to  pene- 
trate your  hermetically  sealed  coffin." 

Cortlandt  seemed  much  upset,  and  spent  the  rest 


422  A  JOURNEY  IN   OTHER  WORLDS. 

of  the  day  in  writing  out  the  facts  and  trying  to 
assign  a  cause.  Towards  evening  Bearwarden,  who 
had  recovered  his  spirits,  prepared  supper,  after 
which  they  sat  in  the  entrance  to  the  cave. 


CHAPTER  X. 

AYKAULT. 

As  the  night  became  darker  they  caught  sight  of 
the  earth  again,  shining  very  faintly,  and  in  his 
mind's  eye  Ayranlt  saw  his  sweetheart,  and  the  old, 
old  repining  that,  since  reason  and  love  began,  has 
been  in  men's  minds,  came  upon  him  and  almost 
crushed  him.  Without  saying  anything  to  his  com- 
panions, Ayrault  left  the  cave,  and,  passing  through 
the  grove  in  which  the  spirit  had  paid  them  his 
second  visit,  went  slowly  to  the  top  of  the  hill  about 
half  a  mile  off,  that  he  might  the  more  easily  gaze  at 
the  faint  star  on  which  he  could  picture  Sylvia. 

"  Ah !  "  he  said  to  himself,  on  reaching  the  sum- 
mit, "  I  will  stay  here  till  the  earth  rises  higher,  and 
when  it  is  far  above  me  I  will  gaze  at  it  as  at 
heaven." 

Accordingly,  he  lay  down  with  his  head  on  a 
mound  of  sod,  and  watched  the  familiar  planet. 

(423) 


424  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

''  AVe  were  born  too  soon,"  he  soliloquized  ;  '^  for 
had  Sylvia  and  I  but  lived  in  the  spiritual  age  fore- 
told by  the  bishop,  we  might  have  held  communion, 
while  now  our  spirits,  no  matter  how  much  in  love, 
are  separated  absolutely  by  a  mere  matter  of  distance. 
It  is  a  mockery  to  see  Sylvia's  dwelling-place,  and 
feel  that  she  is  beyond  my  vision.  O  that,  in  the 
absence  of  something  better,  my  poor  imperfect  eyes 
could  be  transformed  into  those  of  an  eagle,  but  with 
a  million  times  the  power !  for  though  I  know  that 
with  these  senses  I  shall  see  the  resurrection,  and 
hear  the  last  trump,  that  is  but  prospective,  while 
now"  is  the  time  I  loni^  for  siojht." 

On  the  plain  he  had  left  he  saw  his  friends' 
camp-iire,  while  on  the  other  side  of  his  elevation 
was  a  valley  in  wliich  the  insects  chirped  sharply, 
and  through  which  ran  a  stream.  Feeling  a  desire 
for  solitude  and  to  be  as  far  removed  as  possible,  he 
arose  and  descended  towards  the  water.  Though  the 
autumn,  where  they  found  themselves,  was  well  ad- 
vanced, this  night  was  warm,  and  the  rings  formed  a 
great  arch  above  his  head.  Xear  the  stream  the 
frogs  croaked  happily,  as  if  unmindful  of  the  long, 
very  long  Saturnian  winter;  for  though  they  were 


AYRAULT.  425 

removed  but  about  ten  degrees  from  the  equator,  the 
sun  was  so  remote  and  the  axis  of  the  planet  so  in- 
clined that  it  was  unlikely  these  individual  frogs 
would  see  another  summer,  though  they  might  live 
again,  in  a  sense,  in  their  descendants.  The  insects 
also  would  soon  be  frozen  and  stiff,  and  the  tall, 
graceful  lilies  that  still  clung  to  life  would  be  with- 
ered and  dead.  The  trees,  as  if  weeping  at  the  evan- 
escence of  the  life  around  them,  shed  their  leaves 
at  the  faintest  breeze.  These  fluttered  to  the  ground, 
or,  falling  into  the  tranquil  stream,  were  carried  away 
by  it,  and  passed  from  sight.  Ayrault  stood  musing 
and  regretting  the  necessity  of  such  general  death. 
"  But,"  he  thought,  "  I  would  rather  die  than  lose 
my  love;  for  then  I  should  have  had  the  taste  of 
bhss  without  its  fulfilment,  and  should  be  worse  off 
than  dead.  Love  gilds  the  commonplace,  and  deifies 
all  it  touches.  Love  survives  the  winter,  and  in  my 
present  frame  of  mind  I  should  prefer  earth  and  cold 
with  it  to  heaven  and  spring.  Oh,  why  is  my  soul 
so  clogged  by  my  body  ? " 

A  pillar  of  stone  standing  near  him  was  sud- 
denly shattered,  and  the  bishop  stood  where  it  had 
been. 


426  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

"  Because,"  said  tlie  spirit,  answering  his  thought, 
"  it  has  not  jet  power  to  be  free." 

"  Can  a  man's  soul  not  rise  till  his  body  is  dead  ? " 
asked  Ayrault. 

The  spirit  hesitated. 

''Oh,  tell  me,"  pleaded  Ayrault.  "If  I  could 
see  the  girl  to  whom  I  am  engaged,  for  but  a  mo- 
ment, could  be  convinced  that  she  loves  me  still,  my 
mind  would  be  at  rest.  Free  my  soul  or  spirit,  or 
whatever  it  is,  from  this  body,  that  I  may  traverse 
intervening  space  and  be  with  her." 

"  You  will  discover  the  way  for  yourself  in 
time,"  said  the  spirit. 

"  I  know  I  shall  at  the  last  day,  in  the  resurrec- 
tion, when  I  am  no  longer  in  the  flesh.  Then  I 
shall  have  no  need  of  your  aid  ;  for  we  know  that  in 
the  resurrection  they  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in 
marriage,  but  are  like  the  angels  of  God  in  heaven. 
It  is  while  I  am  mortal,  and  love  as  mortals  do. 
that  I  wish  to  see  my  promised  bride.  A  spirit 
may  have  other  joys,  and  perhaps  higher ;  but 
you  who  have  lived  in  the  world  and  loved,  show 
me  that  which  is  now  my  heart's  desire.  You 
have  shown   us  the  tomb   in    which   Cortlandt  will 


AYRAULT.  427 

lie  buried  ;  now  help  me  to  go  to  one   who  is  still 
alive." 

"  I  pray  that  God  will  grant  you  this,"  said  the 
spirit,  "  and  make  me  His  instrument,  for  I  see  the 
depth  of  your  distress."  Saying  which,  he  vanished, 
leaving  no  trace  in  his  departure  except  that  the  pil- 
lar of  stone  returned  to  its  place. 

With  this  rather  vague  hope,  Ayrault  set  off  to 
rejoin  his  companions,  for  he  felt  the  need  of  human 
sympathy.  Saturn's  rapid  rotation  had  brought  the 
earth  almost  to  the  zenith,  the  little  point  shining 
with  the  unmistakably  steady  ray  of  a  planet.  Huge 
bats  fluttered  about  him,  and  the  great  cloud-masses 
swept  across  the  sky,  being  part  of  Saturn's  ceaseless 
whirl.  He  found  he  was  in  a  hypnotic  or  spiritual- 
istic state,  for  it  was  not  necessary  for  him  to  have 
his  eyes  open  to  know  where  he  was.  In  passing  one 
of  the  pools  they  had  noticed,  he  observed  that  the 
upper  and  previously  invisible  liquid  had  the  bright 
colour  of  gold,  and  about  it  rested  a  group  of  figures 
enveloped  in  light. 

"Why  do  you  look  so  sad?"  they  asked.     "You 
are  in  that  abode  of  departed  spirits  known  as  para- 
dise, and  should  be  happy." 
28 


42S  ^  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

"  I  suppose  I  should  be  happy,  were  I  here  as  you 
are,  as  the  reward  of  merit,"  he  repHed.  "  But  I  atn 
still  in  the  flesh,  and  as  such  am  subject  to  its  cares." 

"  You  are  about  to  have  an  experience,"  said  an- 
other speaker.  "  This  day  your  doubts  will  be  at  rest, 
for  before  another  sunset  you  will  know  more  of  the 
woman  you  love." 

The  intensity  of  the  spiritualistic  influence  here 
somewhat  weakened,  for  he  partially  lost  sight  of  the 
luminous  figures,  and  could  no  longer  hear  what  they 
said.  His  heart  was  in  his  mouth  as  he  walked,  and 
he  felt  like  a  man  about  to  set  out  on  his  honeymoon, 
or  like  a  bride  who  knows  not  whether  to  laugh  or 
to  cry.  An  indescribable  exhilaration  was  constantly 
present. 

"I  wonder,"  thought  he,  "if  a  caterpillar  has 
these  sensations  before  becoming  a  butterfly  ?  Though 
I  return  to  the  rock  from  which  I  sprang,  I  believe  I 
shall  be  with  Sylvia  to-day." 

Footprints  formed  in  the  soft  ground  all  around 
him,  and  the  air  was  filled  with  spots  of  phosphores- 
cent light  that  coincided  with  the  relative  positions  of 
the  brains,  hearts,  and  eyes  of  human  beings.  These 
surrounded  and  often  preceded  him,  as  though  lead- 


AYRAULT.  429 

ing  him  on,  while  the  most  heavenly  anthems  filled 
the  air  and  the  vault  of  the  sky. 

"  I  believe,"  he  thought,  with  bounding  heart, 
"  that  I  shall  be  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  space 
this  night." 

At  times  he  could  hear  even  the  words  of  the 
choruses  ringing  in  his  ears,  though  at  others  he 
thought  the  effect  was  altogether  in  his  mind. 

"  Oh,  for  a  proof,"  he  prayed,  "that  no  sane  man 
can  doubt !  My  faith  is  implicit  in  the  bishop  and  the 
vision,  and  I  feel  that  in  some  way  I  shall  return  to 
earth  ere  the  close  of  another  day,  for  I  know  I  am 
awake,  and  that  this  is  no  dream." 

A  fire  burned  in  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  within 
which  Bearwarden  and  Cortlandt  lay  sleeping.  The 
specks  of  mica  in  the  rocks  reflected  its  light,  but  in 
addition  to  this  a  diffused  phosphorescence  filled  the 
place,  and  the  large  sod-covered  stones  they  used  for 
pillows  emitted  purple  and  dark  red  flames. 

"  Is  that  you,  Dick  ?  "  asked  Bearwarden,  awaking 
and  groping  about.  "  We  built  up  the  fire  so  that 
you  should  find  the  camp,  but  it  seems  to  have  gone 
down."  Saying  which,  he  struck  a  match,  where- 
upon Ayrault  ceased  to  see  the  phosphorescence  or 


430  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 

bluisli  light.  At  that  moment  a  peal  of  thunder 
awakened  Cortlandt,  who  sat  up  and  rubbed  his  eyes. 

'*  I  think,"  said  Ayrault,  "  I  will  go  to  the  Callisto 
and  get  our  mackintoshes  before  the  rain  sets  in." 
Whereupon  he  left  his  companions,  who  were  soon 
again  fast  asleep. 

The  sky  had  suddenly  become  filled  with  clouds, 
and  Ayrault  hastened  towards  the  Callisto,  intending 
to  remain  there,  if  necessary,  until  the  storm  was  over. 
For  about  twenty  minutes  he  hurried  on  through  the 
growing  darkness,  stopping  once  on  high  ground  to 
make  sure  of  his  bearings,  and  he  had  covered  more 
than  half  the  distance  when  the  rain  came  on  in  a 
flood,  accompanied  by  brilliant  lightning.  Seeing 
the  huge,  hollow  trunk  of  a  fallen  tree  near,  and  not 
wishing  to  be  wet  through,  xVyrault  fired  several  solid 
shots  from  his  revolver  into  the  cavity,  to  drive  out 
any  wild  animals  there  might  be  inside,  and  then 
hurriedly  crawled  in,  feet  first.  He  next  drew  in  his 
head,  and  was  congratulating  himself  on  his  snug 
retreat,  when  the  sky  became  lurid  with  a  flash  of 
lightning,  then  his  head  dropped  forward,  and  he 
was  unconscious. 


CHAPTEE  XL 

DKEAJVILAND    TO    SKADOWLAND. 

As  Ayrault's  consciousness  returned,  lie  fancied 
he  heard  music.  Though  distant,  it  was  distinct,  and 
seemed  to  ring  from  the  ether  of  space.  Occasion- 
ally it  sounded  even  more  remote,  but  it  was  rhyth- 
mical and  continuous,  inspiring  and  stirring  him  as 
nothing  that  he  had  ever  heard  before.  Finally,  it 
was  overcome  by  the  more  vivid  impressions  upon 
his  other  senses,  and  he  found  himself  walking  in  the 
streets  of  his  native  city.  It  was  spring,  and  the 
trees  were  white  with  buds.  The  long  shadows  of 
the  late  afternoon  stretched  across  the  way,  but  the 
clear  sky  gave  indication  of  prolonged  twilight,  and 
the  air  was  warm  and  balmy.  Nature  was  filled 
with  life,  and  seemed  to  be  proclaiming  that  the 
cold  was  past. 

(431) 


432  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

As  he  moved  along  the  street  he  met  a  funeral 
procession. 

"  Wliat  a  pity,"  he  thought,  "  a  man  should  die, 
with  summer  so  near  at  hand  !  " 

lie  was  also  surprised  at  the  keenness  of  his 
sight ;  for,  inclosed  in  each  man's  body,  he  saw  the 
outline  of  his  soul.  But  the  dead  man's  body  was 
empty,  like  a  cage  without  a  bird.  He  also  read 
the  thoughts  in  their  minds. 

"  Xow,"  said  a  large  man  in  the  carriage  next 
the  hearse,  "  I  may  win  her,  since  she  is  a  widow." 

The  widow  herself  kept  thinking  :  "  Would  it  had 
been  I !  His  life  was  essential  to  the  children,  while 
I  should  scarcely  have  been  missed.  I  wish  I  had  no 
duties  here,  and  might  follow  him  now." 

While  pondering  on  these  things,  he  reached 
Sylvia's  house,  and  went  into  the  little  room  in 
which  he  had  so  often  seen  her.  The  w^arm  south- 
westerly breeze  blew  tlirough  the  open  windows,  and 
far  beyond  Central  Park  the  approaching  sunset 
promised  to  be  beautiful.  The  table  was  covered 
with  flowers,  and  though  he  had  often  seen  that 
variety,  he  had  never  before  noticed  the  marvellous 
combinations  of  colours,  while  tlie  room  was  filled 


DREAMLAND  TO  SHADOWLAND.  433 

with  a  tliousand  delicious  perfumes.  The  thrush 
hanging  in  the  window  sang  divinely,  and  in  a  silver 
frame  he  saw  a  likeness  of  himself. 

"  I  have  always  loved  this  room,"  he  thought, 
"  but  it  seems  to  me  now  like  heaven." 

He  sat  down  in  an  arm-chair  from  force  of  habit, 
to  await  \\\?,  fiancee. 

"Oh,  for  a  walk  with  Sylvia  by  twilight!"  his 
thoughts  ran  on,  "  for  she  need  not  be  at  home  again 
till  after  seven." 

Presently  he  heard  the  soft  rustle  of  her  dress, 
and  rose  to  meet  her.  Though  she  looked  in  his 
direction,  she  did  not  seem  to  see  him,  and  walked 
past  him  to  the  window.  She  was  the  picture  of 
loveliness,  silhouetted  against  the  sky.  He  went 
towards  her,  and  gazed  into  her  deep-sea  eyes,  which 
had  a  far-away  expression.  She  turned,  went  grace- 
fully to  the  mantelpiece,  and  took  a  photograph  of 
herself  from  behind  the  clock.  On  its  back  Ayrault 
had  scrawled  a  boyish  verse  composed   by  himself, 

which  ran  : 

"  My  divine,  most  ideal  Sylvia, 

0  vision,  with  eyes  so  blue, 
'Tis  in  the  highest  degree  consequential, 
To  my  existence  in  fact  essential. 

That  I  should  be  loved  by  you." 


43-i  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

As  slie  read  and  reread  those  lines,  with  his 
whole  soul  he  yearned  to  have  her  look  at  him. 
He  watched  the  colour  come  and  go  in  her  clear, 
bright  complexion,  and  was  rejoiced  to  see  in  her  the 
personification  of  activity  and  health.  Beneath  his 
own  effusion  on  the  photograph  he  saw  something 
written  in  pencil,  in  the  hand  he  knew  so  well : 

"  Did  you  but  know  how  I  love  you, 
No  more  silly  things  would  you  ask. 
With  my  whole  heart  and  soul  I  adore  you — 
Idiot !  goose  !  bombast !  " 

And  as  she  glanced  at  it,  these  thoughts  crossed 
her  mind  :  ''  I  shall  never  call  you  such  names  again. 
How  much  I  shall  have  to  tell  you  !  It  is  provoking 
that  you  stay  away  so  long." 

He  came  still  nearer — so  near,  in  fact,  that  he 
could  hear  the  beating  of  her  heart — but  she  still 
seemed  entirely  unconscious  of  his  presence.  Losing 
his  reserve  and  self-control,  he  impulsively  grasped  at 
her  hands,  then  fell  on  his  knees,  and  then,  dum- 
founded,  struggled  to  his  feet.  Her  hands  seemed 
to  slip  through  his  ;  he  was  not  able  to  touch  her, 
and  she  was  still  unaware  of  his  presence. 

Suddenly  a  whole  flood  of   hght   and  the  truth 


DREAMLAND  TO  SHADOWLAND.      435 

burst  upon  him.  He  had  passed  jDainlessly  and  un- 
consciously from  the  dreamland  of  Saturn  to  the 
shadowland  of  eternity.  The  mystery  was  solved. 
Like  the  dead  bishop,  he  had  become  a  free  spirit. 
His  prayer  was  answered,  and  his  body,  struck  by 
lightning,  lay  far  away  on  that  great  ringed  planet. 
How  he  longed  to  take  in  his  arms  the  girl  who  had 
promised  herself  to  him,  and  w^ho,  he  now  saw,  loved 
him  with  her  whole  heart ;  but  he  was  only  an  imma- 
terial spirit,  lighter  even  than  the  ether  of  space,  and 
the  unchangeable  laws  of  the  universe  seemed  to  him 
but  the  irony  of  fate.  As  a  spirit,  he  was  intangible 
and  invisible  to  those  in  the  flesh,  and  likewise  they 
were  beyond  his  control.  The  tragedy  of  life  then 
dawned  upon  him,  and  the  awful  results  of  death 
made  themselves  felt.  He  glanced  at  Sylvia.  On 
coming  in  she  had  looked  radiantly  happy  ;  now  she 
seemed  depressed,  and  even  the  bird  stopped  singing. 
^'  Oh,"  he  thought,  ^'  could  I  but  return  to  life  for 
one  hour,  to  tell  her  how  incessantly  she  has  been  in 
my  thoughts,  and  how  I  love  her !  Death,  to  the 
aged,  is  no  loss— in  fact,  a  blessing — but  now  !  "  and 
he  sobbed  mentally  in  the  anguish  of  his  soul.  If  he 
could  but  communicate  with  her,  he  thought ;  but  he 


436  ^  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

remembered  what  the  departed  bishop  had  said,  that 
it  would  take  most  men  centuries  to  do  this,  and  that 
others  could  never  learn.  By  that  time  she,  too, 
would  be  dead,  perhaps  having  been  the  wife  of  some 
one  else,  and  he  felt  a  sense  of  jealousy  even  beyond 
the  grave.  Throwing  himself  upon  a  rug  on  the 
floor,  in  a  paroxysm  of  distress,  he  gazed  at 
Sylvia. 

"  Oh,  horrible  mockery  !  "  he  thought,  thinking 
of  the  spirit.  "  He  gave  me  worse  than  a  stone  when 
I  asked  for  bread ;  for,  in  place  of  freedom,  he  sent 
me  death.  Could  I  but  be  alive  again  for  a  few  mo- 
ments ! "  But,  with  a  bitter  smile,  he  again  remem- 
bered the  words  of  the  bishop,  "  What  would  a  soul 
in  hell  not  give  for  but  one  hour  on  earth  ?" 

Sylvia  had  seated  herself  on  a  small  sofa,  on  which, 
and  next  to  her,  he  had  so  often  sat.  Her  gentle 
eyes  had  a  thoughtful  look,  while  her  face  was  the 
personification  of  intelligence  and  beauty.  She  occa- 
sionally glanced  at  his  photograph,  which  she  held  in 
her  hand. 

"  Sylvia,  Sylvia  !  "  he  suddenly  cried,  rising  to  his 
knees  at  her  feet.  "I  love,  I  adore  you  !  It  was  my 
longing  to  be   with  you   that  brought  me   here.     I 


DREAMLAND  TO  SHADOWLAND.      437 

know  you  can  neither  see  nor  hear  me,  but  cannot 
your  soul  commune  with  mine  ? " 

"  Is  Dick  here  ? "  cried  Sylvia,  becoming  deadly 
pale  and  getting  up,  "  or  am  I  losing  my  reason  ? " 

Seeing  that  she  was  distressed  by  the  power  of 
his  mind,  Ayrault  once  more  sank  to  the  floor,  bury- 
inor  his  face  in  his  hands. 

Unable  to  endure  this  longer,  and  feeling  as  if  his 
heart  must  break,  he  rushed  out  into  the  street,  wish- 
ing he  might  soothe  his  anguish  with  a  hypodermic 
injection  of  morphine,  and  that  he  liad  a  body  with 
which  to  divert  and  suppress  his  soul. 

Night  had  fallen,  and  the  electric  lamps  cast  their 
white  rays  on  the  ground,  while  the  stars  overhead 
shone  in  their  eternal  serenity  and  calm.  Then  was 
it  once  more  brought  home  to  him  that  he  was  a 
spirit,  for  darkness  and  light  were  alike,  and  he  felt 
the  beginning  of  that  sense  of  prescience  of  which 
the  bishop  had  spoken.  Passing  through  the  houses 
of  some  of  the  clubs  to  which  he  belonged,  he  saw  his 
name  still  upon  the  list  of  members,  and  then  he  went 
to  the  places  of  amusement  he  knew  so  well.  On  all 
sides  were  familiar  faces,  but  what  interested  him 
most  was   the   great  division   incessantly  going   on. 


438  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

Here  were  jolly  people  enjoying  life  and  playing 
cards,  who,  liis  foresight  showed  him,  would  in  less 
than  a  year  be  under  ground — like  Mercutio,  in 
"  Romeo  and  Juliet,"  to-day  known  as  merry  fellows, 
who  to-morrow  would  be  grave  men. 

While  his  eyes  beheld  the  sun,  he  had  imagined 
the  air  felt  warm  and  balmy.  He  now  saw  that  this 
had  been  a  hallucination,  for  he  was  chilled  through 
and  through.  He  also  perceived  that  he  cast  no 
shadow,  and  that  no  one  observed  his  presence.  He, 
on  the  other  hand,  saw  not  only  the  air  as  it  entered 
and  left  his  friends'  lungs,  but  also  the  substance  of 
their  brains,  and  the  seeds  of  disease  and  death,  whose 
presence  they  themselves  did  not  even  suspect,  and 
the  seventy-live  per  cent  of  water  in  their  bodies, 
making  them  appear  like  sacks  of  liquid.  In  some  he 
saw  the  germs  of  consumption ;  in  others,  affections 
of  the  heart.  In  all,  he  saw  the  incessant  struggle 
between  the  healthy  blood-cells  and  the  malignant, 
omnipresent  bacilli  that  the  cells  were  trying  to  over- 
come. Many  men  and  women  he  saw  were  in  love, 
and  he  could  tell  what  all  were  about  to  do.  Oh,  the 
secrets  that  were  revealed,  while  the  motives  for  acts 
were  now  laid  bare  that  till  then   he  had  misunder- 


DREAMLAND  TO  SHADOWLAND.      439 

Stood  !  He  had  often  heard  the  old  saying,  that  if 
every  person  in  a  ball-room  could  read  the  thoughts 
of  the  rest,  the  ball  would  seem  a  travesty  on  enjoy- 
ment, rather  than  real  pleasure,  and  now  he  perceived 
its  force.  He  also  noticed  that  many  were  better 
than  he  had  supposed,  and  were  trying,  in  a  blunder- 
ing but  persevering  way,  to  obey  their  consciences. 
He  saw  some  unselfish  thoughts  and  acts.  Many 
things  that  he  had  attributed  to  irresolution  or  incon- 
sistency, he  perceived  were  in  reality  self-sacrifice. 
He  went  on  in  frantic  disquiet,  distance  no  longer  be- 
ing of  consequence,  and  in  his  roaming  chanced  to  pass 
through  the  graveyard  in  which  many  generations  of 
his  ancestors  lay  buried.  Within  the  leaden  coffins 
he  saw  the  cold  remains  ;  some  well  preserved,  others 
but  handf  uls  of  dust. 

"  Tell  me,  O  my  progenitors,"  he  cried,  '^  you 
whose  blood  till  this  morning  flowed  in  my  veins,  is 
there  not  some  way  by  which  I,  as  a  spirit,  can  com- 
mune with  the  material  world  ?  I  have  always  ad- 
mired your  judgment  and  wisdom,  and  you  have  all 
been  in  Shadowland  longer  than  I.  Give  me,  I  pray 
you,  some  ancestral  advice." 

The  only  sound  in  answer  was  the  hum   of  the 


440  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

insects  that  filled  the  evening  air.  The  moonlight 
shone  softly,  but  in  a  ghastly  way,  on  the  marble 
crosses  of  his  vault  and  those  around,  and  he  felt  an 
unspeakable  sadness  within  this  abode  of  the  dead. 
"  How  many  unfinished  lives,"  he  thought,  "  have 
ended  beneath  these  sods !  Unimproved  talents  here 
are  buried  in  the  ground.  Unattained  ambitions,  and 
those  who  died  before  their  time ;  those  who  tried, 
in  a  half-hearted  way,  to  improve  their  opportunities, 
and  accomplished  something,  and  those  who  neglected 
them,  and  did  still  less — all  are  together  here,  the  just 
with  the  unjust,  though  it  be  for  the  last  time.  The 
grave  absorbs  their  bodies  and  ends  their  probation- 
ary record,  from  which  there  is  no  appeal." 

Near  by  were  some  open  graves,  ready  to  receive 
their  occupants,  while  a  little  farther  on  he  recognized 
the  Cortlandt  mausoleum,  looking  exactly  as  when 
shown  him,  through  his  second  sight,  by  the  spirit  on 
the  previous  day. 

From  the  graves  filled  recently,  and  from  many 
others,  rose  threads  of  coloured  matter,  in  the  form 
of  gases,  the  forerunners  of  miasma.  lie  now  per- 
ceived shadowy  figures  flitting  about  on  the  ground 
and   in   the  air,  from  whose  eyes  poured  streams  of 


DREAMLAND  TO  SHADOWLAND.      441 

immaterial  tears.  Their  brains,  hearts,  and  vertebral 
columns  were  the  parts  most  easily  seen,  and  they 
were  filled  with  an  inextinguishable  anguish  and  sor- 
row that  from  its  very  intensity  made  itself  seen  as  a 
blue  flame.  The  ruffles  and  knickerbockers  in  which 
some  of  these  were  attired,  evidently  by  the  effects  of 
the  thoughts  in  their  minds,  doubtless  f^om  force  of 
habit  from  what  they  had  worn  on  earth  while  alive, 
showed  that  they  had  been  dead  at  least  two  hundred 
years.  Ayrault  also  now  found  himself  in  street 
clothes,  although  when  in  his  clubs  he  had  worn  a 
dress  suit. 

"  Tell  me,  fellow-spirits,"  he  said,  addressing 
them,  "how  can  I  communicate  with  one  that  is  still 
alive  ? " 

They  looked  at  him  with  moist  eyes,  but  answered 
not  a  word. 

"  I  attributed  the  misery  in  my  heart,"  thought 
Ayrault,  "entirely  to  the  distress  at  losing  Sylvia, 
which  God  knows  is  enough ;  but  though  I  suspected 
it  before,  I  now  see,  by  my  companions,  that  I  am  in 
the  depths  of  hell." 


CHAPTER  XII. 


SHEOL. 


Failing  to  find  words  to  convey  his  thoughts,  lie 
threw  himself  into  an  open  grave,  praying  that  the 
earth  might  hide  his  soul,  as  he  had  supposed  it  some 
day  would  hide  his  body.  But  the  ground  was  like 
crystal,  and  he  saw  the  white  bones  in  the  graves  all 
around  him.  Unable  to  endure  these  surroundings 
longer,  he  rushed  back  to  his  old  haunts,  where  he 
knew  he  should  find  the  friends  of  his  youth.  He 
did  not  pause  to  go  by  the  usual  way,  but  passed, 
without  stopping,  through  walls  and  buildings.  Soon 
he  beheld  the  familiar  scene,  and  heard  his  own  name 
mentioned.  But  there  was  no  comfort  here,  and 
what  he  had  seen  of  old  was  but  an  incident  to  what 
he  gazed  on  now.  Praying  with  his  whole  heart  that 
he  might  make  himself  heard,  he  stepped  upon  a 
foot-stool,  and  cried  : 


SHEOL.  443 

"  Your  bodies  are  decaying  before  me.  You  are 
burying  your  talents  in  the  ground.  We  must  all 
stand  for  final  sentence  at  the  last  day,  mortals  and 
spirits  alike— there  is  not  a  shadow  of  a  shade  of 
doubt.  Your  every  thought  will  be  known,  and  for 
every  evil  deed  and  every  idle  word  God  will  bring 
us  into  judgment.  The  angel  of  death  is  among  you 
and  at  work  in  your  very  midst.  Are  you  prepared 
to  receive  him?  He  has  already  killed  my  body,  and 
now  that  I  can  never  die  I  wish  there  was  a  grave  for 
my  soul.  I  was  reassured  by  a  vision  that  told  me  I 
was  safe,  but  either  it  was  a  hallucination,  or  I  have 
been  betrayed  by  some  spirit.  Last  night  I  still  lived, 
and  my  body  obeyed  my  will.  Since  then  I  have 
experienced  death,  and  with  the  resulting  increased 
knowledge  comes  the  loss  of  all  hope,  with  keener 
pangs  than  I  supposed  could  exist.  Oh,  that  I  had 
now  their  opportunities,  that  I  might  write  a  thesis 
that  should  live  forever,  and  save  milhons  of  souls 
from  the  anguish  of  mine!  Inoculate  your  mortal 
bodies  with  the  germs  of  faith  and  mutual  love,  in  a 
stronger  degree  than  they  dwelt  in  me,  lest  you  lose 
the  life  above." 

But  no  one  heard  him,  and  he  preached  in  vain. 
29 


444:  A  JOURNEY  IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

He  again  rushed  forth,  and.  after  a  half -in  volun- 
tary effort,  found  himself  in  the  street  before  his 
loved  one's  home.  Scarcely  knowing  why,  except 
that  it  had  become  nature  to  wish  to  be  near  her,  he 
stood  for  a  long  time  opposite  her  dwelling. 

"  O  house  !  "  he  cried,  "  inanimate  object  that  can 
yet  enthral  me  so,  I  stand  before  your  cold  front  as 
a  suppliant  from  a  very  distant  realm ;  yet  in  my 
sadness  I  am  colder  than  your  stones,  more  alone 
than  in  a  desolate  place.  She  that  dwells  within  you 
holds  mv  love.  I  Ion 2^  for  her  shadow  or  the  sound 
of  her  step.  I  am  more  wretchedly  in  love  than 
ever — I,  an  impotent,  invisible  spirit.  Must  I  l^ear 
this  sorrow  in  addition  to  my  others,  in  my  fruitless 
search  for  rest  ?  My  life  will  be  a  waking  night- 
mare, most  bitter  irony  of  fate." 

The  trees  swayed  al)ove  his  head,  and  the  moon, 
in  its  last  quarter,  looked  dreamily  at  him. 

"  Ah,"  thought  Ayrault,  "  could  I  but  sleep  and 
be  happy  !  Drowsiness  and  weariness,  fatigue's  grasp 
is  on  me  ;  or  may  Sylvia's  nearness  soothe,  as  her 
voice  has  brought  me  calm  !  Quiet  I  may  some  day 
en  joy,  but  slumber  again,  never !  I  see  that  souls  in 
hades  must  ever  have  their  misdeeds  before  them. 


SHEOL.  4^5 


Happy  man  in  tliis  world,  the  repentant's  sins  are 
forgiven !  You  lose  your  care  in  sleep.  Somnolence 
and  drowsiness— balm  of  acliing  hearts,  angels  of 
mercy!  Mortals,  how  blessed!  until  you  die,  God 
sends  you  this  rest.  When  I  recall  summer  evenings 
with  Sylvia,  while  gentle  zephyrs  fanned  our  brows, 
I  would  change  Pope's  famous  line  to  '  Man  never  is, 
but  always  has  been  blessed.'  " 

A  clock  in  a  church-steeple  now  struck  three,  the 
sound  ringing  through  the  still  night  air. 

"  It  will  soon  be  time  for  ghosts  to  go,"  thought 
Ayrault.     "  I  must  not  haunt  her  dwelling." 

There  was  a  light  in  Sylvia's  study,  and  Ayrault 
remained  meditatively  gazing  at  it. 

"  Happy  lamp,"  he  thought,  "  to  shed  your  light 
on  one  so  fair  !  She  can  see  you,  and  you  shine  for 
her.  You  are  better  off  than  I.  Would  that  her 
soul  might  shine  for  me,  as  your  light  shines  for  her ! 
The  hght  of  ray  life  has  departed.  O  that  the  dark- 
ness were  complete !  I  am  dead,"  his  thoughts  ran 
on,  "and  when  the  privilege— bitter  word !— that 
permits  me  to  remain  here  has  expired,  I  must 
doubtless  return  to  Saturn,  and  there  in  purgatory 
work  out  my  probation.     But  what  comfort  is  it  that 


446  ^    JOURNEY  IN  OTHER   WORLDS. 

a  few  centuries  hence  I  may  be  able  to  revisit  my 
native  earth  t  — 

"  The  flowers  will  bloom  in  the  morning  light, 

And  the  lark  salute  the  sun, 
The  earth  will  continue  to  roll  through  space, 
And  1  may  be  nearer  my  final  grace, 

But  Sylvia's  life-thread  will  be  spun. 

"  Even  Sylvia's  house  will  be  a  heap  of  ruins,  or 
its  place  will  be  taken  by  something  else.  If  I  had 
Sylvia,  I  should  care  for  nothing ;  as  I  have  lost  her, 
even  this  sight,  though  sweet,  must  always  bring  re- 
gret. I  wish,  at  all  events,  I  might  see  Sylvia,  if  only 
with  these  spirit-eyes,  since,  as  a  mortal,  she  may 
never  gladden  my  sight  again." 

To  his  surprise,  he  now  perceived  that  he  could 
see,  notwithstanding  the  drawn  shades.  Sylvia  was 
at  her  writing-desk,  in  a  light-coloured  wrapper. 
She  sat  there  resting  her  head  on  her  hand,  looking 
thoughtful  but  worried.  Though  it  was  so  late,  she 
had  not  retired.  The  thrush  that  Ayrault  had  often 
in  life  admired,  and  that  she  had  for  some  reason 
brought  up-stairs,  was  silent  and  asleep. 

"  Ilapi^y  1)1  rd  I  "  he  said,  "  you  obtain  rest  and 
forgetfulness  on  covering  your  head  ;  but  what  wing 


SHEOL.  44Y 

can  cover  my  soul  ?  I  used  to  wisli  I  might  flutter 
towards  heaven  on  natural  wings  like  you,  little 
thrush.  ]^ow  I  can,  indeed,  outfly  you.  But  what- 
ever I  do  I'm  unhappy,  and  wherever  1  go  I'm  in 
hell.  What  is  man  in  his  helj^less,  first  spiritual 
state  ?  He  is  but  a  flower,  and  withers  soon.  Had 
I,  like  the  bishop,  been  less  blind,  and  obeyed  my 
conscience  clear,  I  might  have  returned  to  my  native 
earth  while  Sylvia  still  sojourns  here ;  and  coming 
thus  by  virtue  of  development,  I  should  be  able  to 
commune  with  her. 

"  What  is  life  ? "  he  continued.  "  In  the  retro- 
spect, nothing.  It  seems  to  me  already  as  but  an 
infinitesimal  point.  Things  that  engrossed  me,  and 
seemed  of  such  moment,  that  overshadowed  the  duty 
of  obeying  my  conscience  —  what  were  they,  and 
where  ?  Ah,  where  ?  They  endured  but  a  moment. 
Eeality  and  evanescence — evanescence  and  reality." 

The  light  in  Sylvia's  room  was  out  now,  and  in 
the  east  he  beheld  the  dawn.  The  ubiquitous  grey 
which  he  saw  at  night  was  invaded  by  streams  of 
glorious  crimson  and  blue  that  reached  far  up  into 
the  sky.  He  gazed  at  the  spectacle,  and  then  once 
more  at  that  house  in  which  his  love  was  centred. 


448  ^  JOURXEY  IN  otiip:r  worlds. 

^'  ■^Vould  I  might  be  her  guardian  angel,  to  guide 
lier  in  the  right  and  keep  her  from  all  harm  I  Sleep 
on,  Sylvia.  Sweet  one,  sleep.  Yon  stars  fade  beside 
your  eyes.  Your  thouglits  and  your  soul  are  fairer 
far  than  the  east  in  this  day's  sunrise.  I  know  what 
I  have  lost.  Ah,  desolating  knowledge  I  for  I  have 
read  Sylvia's  heart,  and  know  I  was  loved  as  truly  as 
I  loved.  When  Bearwarden  and  Cortlandt  break  her 
the  news — ah,  God!  will  she  live,  and  do  they  yet 
know  I  am  dead  ?" 

Again  came  that  spasm  to  shed  spirit  tears,  and 
had  he  not  known  it  impossible  he  would  have 
thought  his  heart  must  break. 

The  birds  twittered,  and  the  light  grew,  but 
Ayrault  lay  with  his  face  upon  the  ground.  Finally 
the  spirit  of  unrest  drove  him  on.  lie  passed  the 
barred  door  of  his  own  house,  through  which  he  had 
entered  so  often.  It  was  unchanged,  but  seemed  de- 
serted. Next,  he  went  to  the  water-front,  where  he 
had  left  his  yacht.  Invisibly  and  sadly  he  stood  upon 
her  upper  deck,  and  gazed  at  the  levers,  in  response 
to  his  touch  on  which  the  craft  had  cleft  the  waves, 
reversed,  or  turned  like  a  thing  of  life. 

"  'Twas   a   pretty   toy,"   he   mused,    "  and   many 


SHEOL.  449 

hours  of  joy  have  I  liad  as  I  floated  through  Hfe  on 
board  of  her." 

As  he  moped  along  he  beheld  two  unkempt  Ital- 
ians having  a  piano-organ  and  a  violin.  The  music 
was  not  fine,  but  it  touched  a  chord  in  Ayrault's 
breast,  for  he  had  waltzed  with  Sylvia  to  that  air, 
and  it  made  his  heart  ache. 

"  Oh,  the  acuteness  of  my  distress,"  he  cried,  "  the 
utter  depth  of  my  sorrow !  Can  I  have  no  peace  in 
death,  no  oblivion  in  the  grave  ?  I  am  reminded  of 
my  blighted,  hopeless  love  in  all  kinds  of  unexpected 
ways,  by  unforeseen  trifles.  Oh,  w^ould  I  might,  in- 
deed, die  !     May  obliteration  be  my  deliverer !  " 

"Poor  fellows,"  he  continued,  glancing  at  the 
Italians,  for  he  perceived  that  neither  of  the  players 
was  happy ;  the  pianist  was  avaricious,  while  the 
violinist's  natural  and  habitual  jealousy  destroyed 
his  peace  of  mind. 

"Unhappiness  seems  the  common  lot,"  thought 
Ayrault.  "Earth  cannot  give  that  joy  for  which  we 
sigh.  Poor  fellows!  though  you  rack  my  ears  and 
distress  my  heart,  I  cannot  help  you  now." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


THE    PEIEST  S    SERMON. 


It  being  the  first  day  of  the  week,  the  morning 
air  was  filled  with  chimes  from  many  steeples. 

"  Divine  service  always  comforted  in  life," 
thought  Ayrault,  "  perchance  it  may  do  so  now, 
when  I  have  reached  the  state  for  which  it  tried  to 
prepare  me." 

Accordingly,  he  moved  on  with  the  throng,  and 
soon  was  ascending  the  heights  of  Morningside  Park, 
after  which  he  entered  the  cathedral.  The  priest 
whose  voice  had  so  often  thrilled  him  stood  at  his 
post  in  his  surplice,  and  the  choir  had  finished  the 
processional  hynm.  During  the  responses  in  the 
litany,  and  between  the  commandments,  while  the  con- 
gregation and  the  choir  sang,  he  heard  their  natural 
voices  as  of  old  ascending  to  the  vaulted  roof  and 
arrested  there.      He  now  also  heard   their  spiritual 

(450) 


THE  PRIEST'S  SERMON.  451 

voices  resulting  from  tlie  earnestness  of  tlieir  prayers. 
These  were  rung  through  the  vaster  vault  of  space, 
arousing  a  spiritual  eclio  beyond  the  constellations 
and  the  nebulae.  The  service,  which  was  that  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  touched  him  as 
deeply  as  usual,  after  which  the  rector  ascended  the 
steps  to  the  pulpit. 

"  The  text,  this  morning,'*  he  began,  "  is  from  the 
eighth  chapter  of  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Eomans,  at 
the  eighteenth  verse  :  '  For  I  reckon  that  the  sufferings 
of  this  present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared 
to  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed  in  us.'  Let  us 
suppose  that  you  or  I,  brethren,  should  become  a 
free  and  disembodied  spirit.  A  minute  vein  in  the 
brain  bursts,  or  a  clot  forms  in  the  heart.  It  may 
be  a  mere  trifle,  some  unexpected  thing,  yet  the 
career  in  the  flesh  is  ended,  the  eternal  life  of  the 
liberated  spirit  begun.  The  soul  slips  from  earth's 
grasp,  as  air  from  our  fingers,  and  finds  itself  in  the 
frigid,  boundless  void  of  space.  Yet,  through  some 
longing  this  soul  might  rejoin  us,  and,  though  invis- 
ible, might  hear  the  church-bells  ring,  and  long  to 
recall  some  one  of  the  many  bright  Sunday  mornings 
spent  here  on  earth.     Has  a  direful  misfortune  be- 


452  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

fallen  this  brother,  or  has  a  slave  been  set  free  ?  Let 
us  suppose  for  a  moment  that  the  first  has  occurred. 
'  Vanity  of  vanities,'  said  the  old  preacher.  '  Calamity 
of  calamities,'  says  the  new.  That  soul's  probation- 
ary period  is  ended ;  his  record,  on  which  he  must 
go,  is  forever  made.  He  has  been  in  the  flesh,  let 
us  say,  one,  two,  three  or  four  score  years ;  before 
him  are  the  countless  seons  of  eternity.  He  may 
have  had  a  reasonably  satisfactory  life,  from  his 
point  of  view,  and  been  fairly  successful  in  stifling 
conscience.  That  still,  small  voice  doubtless  spoke 
pretty  sharply  at  first,  but  after  a  while  it  rarely 
troubled  him,  and  in  the  end  it  spoke  not  at  all. 
He  may,  in  a  way,  have  enjoyed  life  and  the  beau- 
ties of  nature.  He  lias  seen  the  fresh  leaves  come 
and  go,  but  he  forgot  the  moral,  that  he  himself  was 
but  a  leaf,  and  that,  as  they  all  dropped  to  earth  to 
make  more  soil,  his  ashes  must  also  return  to  the 
ground.  But  his  soul,  friends  and  brethren,  what 
becomes  of  that  ?  Ah  !  it  is  the  study  of  this  question 
that  moistens  our  eyes  with  tears.  Xo  evil  man  is 
really  happy  here,  and  what  must  be  his  suffering  in 
the  cold,  cold  land  of  spirits?  No  slumber  or  for- 
getfulness  can    ease   his  lot  in  hades,  and   after  his 


THE  PRIEST'S  SERMON.  453 

condemnation  at  the  last  judgment  lie  must  forever 
face  the  unsoftened  realities  of  eternity.  'No  evil 
thing  or  thought  can  find  lodgment  in  heaven.  If  it 
could,  heaven  would  not  be  a  happy  place  ;  neither 
can  any  man  improve  in  the  abyss  of  hell.  As  the 
horizon  gradually  darkens,  and  this  soul  recedes  from 
God,  the  time  spent  in  the  flesh  must  come  to  seem 
the  most  infinitesimal  moment,  more  evanescent  than 
the  tick  of  a  clock.  It  seems  dreadful  that  for  such 
short  misdoings  a  soul  should  suffer  so  long,  but  no 
man  can  be  saved  in  spite  of  himself.  He  had  the 
opportunities — and  the  knowledge  of  this  must  give  a 
soul  the  most  acute  pang. 

"  In  Eevelation,  xx,  6,  we  find  these  words, 
'  Blessed  and  holy  is  he  that  hath  part  in  the  first  res- 
urrection :  on  such  the  second  death  hath  no  power.' 
I  have  often  asked  myself.  May  not  this  mean  that 
those  with  a  bad  record  in  the  general  resurrection 
'  after  a  time  cease  to  exist,  since  all  suffer  one  death 
at  the  close  of  their  period  here  ? 

"  This  is  somewhat  suggested  by  Proverbs,  xii,  28, 
'  In  the  way  of  righteousness  is  life,  and  in  the  path- 
way thereof  there  is  no  death.'  This  might  limit  the 
everlasting  damnation,  so  often  repeated  elsewhere. 


454  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER  WORLDS. 

to  the  lives  of  the  coudemned,  since  to  them,  in  a 
sense,  it  would  be  everlasting. 

"  Let  ns  now  turn  to  the  bright  picture — the 
soul  that  has  weathered  the  storms  of  life  and  has 
reached  the  haven  of  rest.  The  struggles,  tempta- 
tions, and  trials  overcome,  have  done  their  work  of 
refining  with  a  rapidity  that  could  not  have  been 
equalled  in  any  other  way,  and  though,  perhaps,  very 
imperfect  still,  the  journey  is  ever  on.  The  reward 
is  tenfold,  yet  in  proportion  to  what  this  soul  has 
done,  for  we  know  that  the  servant  who  best  used  his 
ten  talents  was  made  ruler  over  ten  cities,  while  he 
that  increased  his  five  talents  by  five  received  five  ; 
and  the  Saviour  in  whom  he  trusted,  by  whose  aid  he 
made  his  fight,  stands  ready  to  receive  him,  saying, 
'  Enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord.' 

"  As  the  dark,  earthly  background  recedes,  the 
clouds  break  and  the  glorious  light  appears,  the  con- 
trast heightening  the  ever-unfolding  and  increasing 
delights,  which  are  as  great  as  the  recipients  have 
power  to  onjoy,  since  these  righteous  souls  receive 
their  rewards  in  proportion  to  the  weight  of  the 
crosses  that  they  have  borne  in  the  right  spirit.  These 
souls  are  a  joy  to  their  Creator,  and  are  the  heirs  of 


THE  PRIEST'S  SERMON.  455 

Him  in  lieaven.  The  ceaseless,  sleepless  activity  that 
must  obtain  in  both  paradise  and  hades,  and  that 
must  make  the  hearts  of  the  godless  grow  faint  at 
the  contemplation,  is  also  a  boundless  promise  to 
those  who  have  Him  who  is  all  in  all. 

''  Where  is  now  thy  Saviour  ?  where  is  now  thy 
God?  the  unjust  man  has  asked  in  his  heart  when 
he  saw  his  just  neighbour  struggling  and  unsuccess- 
ful. Both  the  righteous  and  the  unrighteous  man 
are  dead.  The  one  has  found  his  Saviour,  the  other 
is  yearly  losing  God.  What  is  Ihe  suffering  of  the 
present  momentary  time,  eased  as  it  is  by  God's 
mercy  and  presence,  compared  with  the  glories  that 
await  us  ?  What  would  it  be  if  our  lives  here  were 
filled  with  nothing  else,  as  ye  know  that  your  labour 
is  not  vain  in  the  Lord  ?  Time  and  eternity— the  finite 
and  the  infinite.  Death  was,  indeed,  a  deliverer,  and 
the  sunset  of  the  body  is  the  sunrise  of  the  soul." 

The  priest  held  himself  erect  as  a  soldier  while 
delivering  this  sermon,  making  the  great  cathedral 
ring  with  his  earnest  and  solemn  voice,  while  Ayrault, 
as  a  spirit,  saw  how  absolutely  he  meant  and  believed 
every  word  that  he  said. 

ISTearly  all  the  members  of  the  congregation  were 


456  A  JOURNEY   IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

moved — some  more,  some  less  than  tliey  appeared. 
After  the  benediction  they  rapidly  dispersed,  carry- 
ing in  their  hearts  the  germs  he  had  sown  ;  bnt 
whether  these  would  bear  fruit  or  wither,  time  alone 
could  show. 

Ayrault  had  noticed  Sylvia's  father  and  mother  in 
church,  but  Sylvia  herself  was  not  there,  and  he  w^as 
distressed  to  think  she  might  be  ill. 

"  Why,"  pondered  Ayrault,  "  am  I  so  unhappy  ? 
I  was  baptized,  confirmed,  and  have  taken  the  sacra- 
ment. I  have  always  had  an  unshaken  faith,  and, 
though  often  unsuccessful,  have  striven  to  obey  my 
conscience.  The  spirits  also  on  Saturn  kept  saying  I 
should  be  happy.  Now,  did  this  mean  it  was  incum- 
bent upon  me  to  rejoice,  because  of  some  blessing  I 
already  had,  and  did  not  appreciate,  or  did  their  2>re- 
science  show  them  some  prospective  happiness  I  was 
to  enjoy  ?  The  visions  also  of  Yiolet,  the  angel,  and 
the  lily,  which  I  believed,  and  still  believe,  were  no 
mere  empty  fancies,  should  have  given  me  the  most 
unspeakable  joy.  It  may  be  a  mistake  to  apply  earth- 
ly logic  to  heavenly  things,  but  the  fundamental  laws 
of  science  cannot  change. 

"  Why  am  I  so  unhappy  ? "  he  continued,  return- 


THE  PRIEST'S  SERMON.  457 

ing  to  his  original  question.  "The  visions  gave 
promise  of  special  grace,  perhaps  some  special  favour. 
True,  my  prayer  to  see  Sylvia  was  heard,  but,  consid- 
ering the  sacrifice,  this  has  been  no  blessing.  The 
request  cannot  have  been  wrong  in  itself,  and  as  for 
the  manner,  there  was  no  arrogance  in  my  heart. 
I  asked  as  a  mortal,  as  a  man  of  but  finite  understand- 
ing, for  what  concerned  me  most.  "Why,  oh  why,  so 
wretched?" 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


HIC    ILLE    JACET. 


At  daybreak  the  tlmnder-shower  passed  off,  but 
was  followed  by  a  cold,  drenching  rain.  Supposing 
Ayrault  had  remained  in  the  Callisto,  Bearwarden 
and  Cortlandt  did  not  feel  anxious,  and,  not  wishing 
to  be  wet  through,  remained  in  the  cave,  keeping  up 
a  good  fire  with  the  wood  they  had  collected.  To- 
wards evening  a  cold  wind  came  up,  and,  thinking  this 
might  clear  the  air,  they  ventured  out,  but,  finding  the 
ground  saturated,  and  that  the  rain  was  again  begin- 
ning to  fall,  they  returned  to  shelter,  prepared  a  din- 
ner of  canned  meat,  and  made  themselves  as  comfort- 
able as  possible  for  the  night. 

"  I  am  surprised,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  that  Dick  did 
not  try  to  return  to  us,  since  he  had  the  mackin- 
toshes." 

"  T  dare  say  he  did  try,"  replied  Bearwarden,  "  but 

(458) 


r 


HlC   ILLE  JACET.  459 

finding  the  course  inundated,  and  knowing  we  should 
not  need  the  mackintoshes  if  we  remained  under 
cover,  decided  to  put  back.  The  Calhsto  is,  of  course, 
as  safe  as  a  church." 

"  I  hope,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  no  harm  has  come  to 
liim  on  the  way.  It  will  be  a  weight  off  my  mind  to 
see  him  safely  with  us." 

"  Should  he  not  turn  up  in  the  morning,"  replied 
Bearwarden,  "  we  must  begin  a  search  for  him  bright 
and  early." 

Making  up  the  fire  as  near  the  entrance  of  the 
cave  as  they  could  find  a  dry  place,  so  that  Ayrault 
should  see  it  if  he  attempted  to  return  during  the 
night,  they  piled  on  wood,  and  talked  of  their  recent 
experiences. 

"  However  unwilHng  I  was,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  to 
believe  my  senses,  which  I  felt  were  misleading  me,  I 
can  no  longer  doubt  the  reality  of  that  spirit  bishop, 
or  the  truth  of  what  he  says.  When  you  look  at  the 
question  dispassionately,  it  is  what  you  might  logic- 
ally expect.  In  my  desire  to  disprove  what  is  to  us 
supernatural,  I  tried  to  create  mentally  a  system  that 
would  be  a  substitute  for  the  one  he  described,  but 

could  evolve  nothing  that  so  perfectly  filled  the  re- 
30 


460  A  JOURNEY  IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 

quirements,  or  that  was  so  simple.  Nothing  seems 
more  natural  than  that  man,  having  been  evolved 
from  stone,  should  continue  his  ascent  till  he  dis- 
cards material  altogether.  The  metamorpliism  is 
more  striking  in  the  first  change  than  in  the  second. 
Granted  that  the  soul  is  immaterial,  and  that  it  leaves 
the  body  after  death,  what  is  there  to  keep  it  on 
earth  ?  Gravitation  cannot  afi'ect  it.  What  is  more 
likely  than  that  it  is  left  behind  by  the  earth  in  its 
orbit,  or  that  it  continues  its  forward  motion,  but  in 
a  straight  line,  till,  reaching  the  paths  of  the  greater 
planets,  it  is  drawn  to  them  by  some  affinity  or  attrac- 
tion that  the  earth  does  not  possess,  and  that  the  souls 
held  in  that  manner  remain  here  on  probation,  devel- 
oping like  young  animals  or  children,  till,  by  gradu- 
ally acquired  power,  resulting  from  their  wills,  they 
are  able  to  rise  again  into  space,  to  revisit  the  earth, 
and  in  time  to  explore  the  universe  ?  It  might  easily 
come  about  that,  by  some  explainable  sympathy,  the 
infant  good  souls  are  drawn  to  this  planet,  while  the 
condemned  pass  on  to  Cassandra,  which  holds  them 
by  some  property  peculiar  to  itself,  until  perhaps 
they,  too,  by  virtue  of  their  wills,  acquire  new  power, 
unless   involution    sets  in  and   they  lose  what  they 


HIC  ILLE  JACET.  461 

have.  The  simplicity  of  the  thing  is  what  surprises 
me  now,  and  that  for  ages  philosophers  have  been 
racking  their  brains  with  every  conceivable  fancy, 
when,  by  simply  extending  and  following  natural 
laws,  they  could  discern  the  whole." 

"  It  is  the  old  story,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  of  Co- 
lumbus and  the  egg.  Schopenhauer  and  his  prede- 
cessors appear  to  have  tried  every  idea  but  the  right 
one,  and  even  Darwin  and  Huxley  fell  short  in  their 
reasoning,  because  they  tried  to  obtain  more  or  less 
than  four  by  putting  two  with  two." 

Thus  they  sat  and  talked  while  the  night  wore 
on.  Neither  thought  of  sleeping,  hoping  all  the 
while  that  Ayrault  might  walk  in  as  he  had  the 
night  before. 

At  last  the  dawn  began  to  tint  the  east,  and  the 
growing  light  showed  them  that  the  storm  had 
passed.  The  upper  strata  of  Saturn's  atmosphere 
being  filled  with  infinitesimal  particles  of  dust,  as 
a  result  of  its  numerous  volcanoes,  the  conditions 
were  highly  favourable  to  beautiful  sunrises  and  sun- 
sets. Soon  coloured  streaks  extended  far  into  the 
sky,  and  though  they  knew  that  when  the  sun's  disc 
appeared   it  would   seem   small,  it  filled  the  almost 


462  A  JOURNEY   IX  OTHER   WORLDS. 

boundless  eastern  horizon  with  the  most  variegated 
and  gorgeous  hues. 

Turning  away  from  the  welcome  sight — for  their 
minds  were  ill  at  ease — they  found  the  light  strong 
enough  for  their  search  to  begin.  Writing  on  a 
sheet  of  paper,  in  a  large  hand,  "  Have  gone  to  the 
Callisto  to  look  for  you ;  shall  afterwards  return 
here,"  they  pinned  this  in  a  conspicuous  place  and 
set  out  due  west,  keeping  about  a  hundred  yards 
apart.  The  ground  was  wet  and  slippery,  but  over- 
head all  was  clear,  and  the  sun  soon  shone  brightly. 
Looking  to  right  and  left,  and  occasionally  shouting 
and  discharging  their  revolvers,  they  went  on  for 
half  an  hour. 

"  I  have  his  tracks,"  called  Bearwarden,  and  Cort- 
landt  hastened  to  join  him. 

In  the  soft  ground,  sure  enough,  they  saw  Ay- 
rault's  footprints,  and,  from  the  distance  between 
them,  concluded  that  he  must  have  been  running  or 
walking  very  fast ;  but  the  rain  had  washed  down  the 
edges  of  the  incision.  The  trail  ascended  a  gentle 
slope,  where  they  lost  it ;  l)ut  on  reaching  the  sum- 
mit they  saw  it  again  with  the  feet  together,  as 
though  Ayrault  had  paused,  and  about  it  were  many 


HIC  ILLE  JACET.  463 

other  impressions  with  the  feet  turned  in,  as  if  the 
walkers  or  standers  had  surrounded  Ayrault,  who 
was  in  the  centre. 

"I  hope,"  said  Cortlandt,  "these  are  nothing 
more  than  the  footprints  we  have  seen  formed  about 

ourselves." 

"See,"  said  Bearwarden,  "Dick's  trail  goes  on, 
and  the  others  vanish.  They  cannot  have  been  made 
by  savages  or  Indians,  for  they  seem  to  have  had 
weight  only  while  standing." 

They  then  resumed  their  march,  firing  a  revolver 
shot  at  intervals  of  a  minute.  Suddenly  they  came 
upon  a  tall,  straight  tree,  uprooted  by  the  wind  and 
lying  diagonally  across  their  path.  Following  with 
their  eyes  the  direction  in  which  it  lay,  they  saw  a 
large,  hollow  trunk,  with  the  bark  stripped  off,  and 
charred  as  if  struck  by  lightning.  Obliged  to  pass 
near  this  by  the  uprooted  tree — whose  thick  trunk, 
upheld  by  the  branches  at  the  head,  lay  raised  about 
two  feet  from  the  ground— both  searchers  gave  a 
start,  and  stood  still  as  if  petrified.  Inside  the  great 
trunk  they  saw  a  head,  and,  on  looking  more  closely, 
descried  Ayrault's  body.  Grasping  it  by  the  arms, 
they  drew  it  out.     The  face  was  pale  and  the  limbs 


^r4  A  JOURNEY   IN  OTHER   WORLDS. 

were  stiff.  Instantly  Cortlandt  unfastened  the  collar, 
while  Bearwarden  applied  a  flask  to  the  lips.  But 
thej  soon  found  that  their  efforts  were  vain. 

*'  The  spirit ! ''  ejaculated  Cortlandt.  "  Dick  may 
be  in  a  trance,  in  which  case  he  can  help  us.  Let  us 
will  hard  and  long.  Accordingly,  they  threw  them- 
selves on  their  faces,  closing  their  eyes,  that  nothing 
might  distract  their  concentration.  Minutes,  which 
seemed  like  ages,  passed,  and  there  was  no  response. 

''  Xow,"  said  Bearwarden,  "  will  together,  hard." 

Suddenly  the  stillness  was  broken  by  the  spirit's 
voice,  which  said : 

"  I  felt  more  than  one  mind  calling,  but  the  effect 
was  so  slight  I  thought  first  I  was  mistaken.  I  will 
help  you  in  what  you  want,  for  the  young  man  is  not 
dead,  neither  is  he  injured." 

Saying  which,  he  stretched  himself  upon  Ayrault, 
worked  his  lungs  artificially,  and  willed  with  an  in- 
tensity the  observers  could  feel  where  they  stood. 
Quickly  the  colour  returned  to  Ayrault's  cheeks,  and 
with  the  spirit's  assistance  he  sat  up  and  leaned 
against  the  tree  that  had  protected  him  from  the 
storm. 

"  Your  promise  was  realized,"  he  said,  addressing 


HIC   ILLE  JACET.  465 

the  spirit.  "  I  have  seen  what  I  shall  never  forget, 
and  lest  the  anguish — the  vision  of  which  I  saw — 
come  true,  let  us  return  to  the  earth,  and  not  leave  it 
till  I  have  tasted  in  reality  the  joys  that  in  the  spirit 
I  seemed  to  have  missed.  I  have  often  longed  in  this 
life  to  be  in  the  spirit,  but  never  knew  what  longing 
was,  till  I  experienced  it  as  a  spirit,  to  be  once  more 
in  the  flesh." 

"  You  see  the  mercy  of  God,"  said  the  spirit,  "  in 
not  ordinarily  allowing  the  spirits  of  the  departed  to 
revisit  earth  until  they  are  prepared — that  is,  until 
they  are  sufliciently  advanced  to  go  there  unaided — by 
which  time  they  have  come  to  understand  the  wisdom 
of  God's  laws.  In  your  case  the  limiting  laws  were 
partially  suspended,  so  that  you  were  able  to  return 
at  once,  with  many  of  the  faculties  and  senses  of 
spirits,  but  without  their  accumulated  experience.  It 
speaks  well  for  your  state  of  preparation  that,  with- 
out having  had  those  disguised  blessings,  illness  or 
misfortune,  you  were  not  utterly  crushed  by  what 
you  saw  when  temporarily  released.  While  in  the 
trance  you  were  not  in  hell,  but  experienced  the  feel- 
ings that  all  mortals  would  if  allowed  to  return  im- 
mediately.    Thus  no  lover  can  return  to  earth  till 


466  ^^  JUUKXEY  IN  OTHER   WORLDS. 

liis  fiancte  has  joined  liim  here,  or  till,  perceiving  the 
benevolence  of  God's  ways,  he  is  not  distressed  at 
what  he  sees,  and  has  the  companionship  of  a  host 
of  kindred  spirits. 

"  The  spirits  you  saw  in  the  cemetery  were  indeed 
in  hell,  but  had  become  sufficiently  developed  to  re- 
visit the  earth,  though  doing  so  did  not  relieve  their 
distress ;  for  neither  the  development  of  their  senses, 
which  intensifies  their  capacity  for  remorse  and  re- 
gret, nor  their  investigations  into  God's  boundless 
mercies,  which  they  have  dehberately  thrown  away, 
can  comfort  them. 

*'  Some  of  your  ancestors  are  on  Cassandra,  and 
others  are  in  purgatory  here.  Though  a  few  faintly 
felt  your  prayer,  none  were  able  to  return  and  an- 
swer beside  their  graves.  It  was  at  your  request  and 
prayer  that  He  freed  your  spirit,  but  you  see  how 
unhappy  it  made  you." 

"  I  see,"  replied  Ayrault,  "  that  no  man  should 
wish  to  anticipate  the  workings  of  the  Almighty, 
although  I  have  been  unspeakably  blessed  in  that 
He  made  an  exception — if  I  may  so  call  it — in  my 
favour,  since,  in  addition  to  revealing  the  responsi- 
bilities of  life,  it  has  shown  me  the  inestimable  value 


HlC  ILLE  JACET.  467 

and  loyalty  of  woman's  love.  I  fear,  however,  that 
my  return  to  earth  greatly  distressed  the  waterer  of 
the  flowers  you  showed  me." 

"  She  already  sleeps,"  replied  the  spirit,  "  and  I 
have  comforted  her  by  a  dream  in  which  she  sees 
that  you  are  well." 

"  When  shall  we  start  ?  "  asked  Bearwarden. 

"  As  soon  as  you  can  get  ready,"  replied  Ayrault. 
"  I  would  not  risk  running  short  of  enough  current 
to  generate  the  apergy  needed  to  get  ns  back.  I 
dare  say  when  I  have  been  on  earth  a  few  years,  and 
have  done  something  for  the  good  of  my  soul— which, 
as  I  take  it,  can  be  accomplished  as  well  by  advancing 
science  as  in  any  other  way— I  shall  pine  for  another 
journey  in  space  as  I  now  do  to  return." 

"  How  I  wish  I  were  engaged,"  said  Bearwarden, 
glancing  at  Cortlandt,  and  overjoyed  at  Ayrault's 
recovery. 

Accordingly,  they  resumed  their  march  in  the 
direction  in  which  they  had  been  going  when  they 
found  Ayrault,  and  were  soon  beside  the  Calhsto. 
Cortlandt  worked  the  combination  lock  of  the 
lower  entrance,  through  which  they  crawled.  Going 
to  the  second  story,  they  opened  a  large  window  and 


468  A  JOURNEY   IN   OTHER   WORLDS. 

let  clown  a  ladder,  on  which  the  SiDirit  ascended  at 
their  invitation. 

Bearwarden  and  Ayrault  immediately  set  about 
combining  the  chemicals  that  were  to  produce  the 
force  necessary  to  repel  them  from  Saturn.  Bubbles 
of  hydrogen  were  given  off  from  the  lead  and  zinc 
plates,  and  the  viscous  primary  batteries  quickly  had 
the  wires  passing  through  a  vacuum  at  a  white  heat. 

"  I  see  you  are  nearly  ready  to  start,"  said  the 
spirit,  "  so  I  must  say  farewell.'' 

"  Will  you  not  come  with  us  ? "  asked  Ayrault. 

"  Xo,"  replied  the  spirit.  "  I  do  not  wish  to  be 
away  as  long  as  it  will  take  you  to  reach  the  earth. 
The  Callisto's  atmosphere  could  not  absorlj  my  body, 
so  that,  should  I  leave  you  before  your  arrival,  you 
would  be  burdened  with  a  corpse.  I  may  visit  you 
in  the  spirit,  though  the  desire  and  effort  for  com- 
munion with  spirits,  to  be  of  most  good,  must  needs 
come  from  the  earth.  Ere  long,  my  intuition  tells 
me,  we  shall  meet  again. 

"  The  vision  of  your  own  grave,"  he  continued, 
addressing  Cortlandt,  "  may  not  come  true  for  many 
years,  but  however  long  your  lives  may  be,  according 
to  earthly  reckoning,  remember  that  when  they  are 


HIC  ILLE  JACET.  469 

past  they  will  seem  to  have  been  hardly  more  than  a 
moment,  for  they  are  the  personification  of  frailty 
and  evanescence." 

He  held  up  his  hands  and  blessed  them  ;  and  then 
repeating,  "Farewell  and  a  happy  return!"  de- 
scended as  he  had  come  up. 

The  air  was  filled  with  misty  shadows,  and  the 
pulsating  hearts,  luminous  brains,  and  centres  of 
spiritual  activity  quivered  with  motion.  They  sur- 
rounded the  incarnate  spirit  of  the  bishop  and  set 
up  the  soft,  musical  hum  the  travellers  had  heard  so 
often  since  their  arrival  on  Saturn. 

"  I  now  understand,"  thought  Ayrault,  "  why  the 
spirits  I  met  kept  repeating  that  I  should  be  happy. 
They  perceived  I  was  to  be  translated,  and  though 
they  doubtless  knew  what  suffering  it  would  cause, 
they  also  knew  I  should  be  awakened  to  a  sense  of 
great  realities,  of  which  I  understood  but  little." 

They  drew  up  the  ladder  and  turned  on  the  cur- 
rent, and  the  Callisto  slowly  began  to  rise,  while  the 
three  friends  crowded  the  window. 

"  Good-bye ! "  called  the  spirit's  pleasant  voice,  to 
which  the  men  replied  in  chorus. 

The  sun  had  set  on  the  surface  of  the  planet  while 


470  ^  JOCRNEY   IN   OTHER   WORLDS. 

tliey  made  their  pre])arati(jns ;  but  as  the  CalHsto  rose 
higher,  it  seemed  to  rise  again,  making  the  sides  of 
tlieir  ear  shine  hke  silver,  and,  carefully  closing  the 
two  open  windows,  they  watched  the  fast-receding 
world,  so  many  times  larger  and  more  magniticent 
than  their  own. 


CHAPTEE  XY. 

MOTHER    EARTH. 


"  There  is  something  sad,"  said  Cortlandt,  "  about 
the  end  of  everything,  but  I  am  more  sorry  to  leave 
Saturn  than  I  have  ever  been  in  taking  leave  of  any 
other  place."" 

When  beyond  the  Kmits  of  the  atmosphere  they 
applied  the  full  current,  and  were  soon  once  more 
cleaving  the  ether  at  cometary  speed,  their  motion 
towards  the  sun  being  aided  by  that  great  body  itself. 
They  quickly  passed  beyond  the  outer  edge  of 
the  vast  silvery  rings,  and  then  crossed  one  after  an- 
other the  orbits  of  the  moons,  from  the  last  of  which, 
lapetus,  they  obtained  their  final  course  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  earth.  They  had  an  acute  feeling  of 
homesickness  for  the  mysterious  planet  on  which, 
while  yet  mortal,  they  had  found  paradise,  and  had 
communed  with  spirits  as  no  modern  men  ever  did. 


(471) 


472  ^  JOURNEY   IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

Witliout  deviating  from  their  almost  straight  Hne, 
they  passed  within  a  million  miles  of  Jupiter,  which 
had  gained  in  its  smaller  orbit  on  Saturn,  and  a  few 
days  later  crossed  the  track  of  Mars. 

As  the  earth  had  completed  nearly  half  a  revo- 
lution in  its  orbit  since  their  departure,  they  here 
turned  somewhat  to  the  right  by  attracting  the  ruddy 
planet,  in  order  to  avoid  passing  too  near  the  sun. 

*^  On  some  future  expedition,"  said  Ayrault,  "  and 
when  we  have  a  supply  of  blue  glasses,  we  can  take  a 
trip  to  Yenus,  if  we  can  find  a  possible  season  in  her 
year.  Compared  with  this  journey,  it  would  be  only 
like  going  round  the  block." 

Two  days  later  they  had  rounded  the  sun,  and 
laid  their  course  in  pursuit  of  the  earth. 

That  the  astronomers  in  the  dark  hemisphere  were 
at  their  posts  and  saw  them,  was  evident ;  for  a 
brilliant  beam  of  light  again  flashed  forth,  this  time 
from  a  point  a  little  south  of  the  arctic  circle,  and 
after  shining  one  minute,  telegraphed  this  message : 
"  Rejoiced  to  see  you  again.     Hope  all  are  well." 

Since  they  were  not  sufficiently  near  the  moon's 
shadow,  they  directed  their  light-beam  into  their  own, 
which  trailed  off  on  one  side,  and  answered :  '"  All 


MOTHER  EARTH.  473 

well,  thank  you.  Have  wonderful  things  to  re- 
late." 

The  men  at  the  telescopes  then,  as  before,  read 
the  message,  and  telephoned  the  light  this  next  ques- 
tion :  "  AYhen  are  you  coming  down,  that  we  may 
notify  the  newspapers  ?  " 

"We  wish  one  more  sight  of  the  earth  from 
this  height,  by  daylight.  We  are  now  swinging  to 
get  between  it  and  the  sun." 

"  We  have  erected  a  monument  in  Yan  Cortlandt 
Park,  and  engraved  upon  it,  '  At  this  place  James 
Bearwarden,  Henry  Chelmsford  Cortlandt,  and  Eich- 
ard  Kokeby  Ayrault  left  earth,  December  21,  a.  d. 
2000,  to  visit  Jupiter.'  " 

"  Add  to  it,  '  They  returned  on  the  10th  of  the 
following  June.' " 

Soon  the  CalHsto  came  nearly  between  the  earth 
and  the  sun,  Avhen  the  astronomers  could  see  it  only 
through  darkened  glasses,  and  it  appeared  almost  as  a 
crescent.  The  sight  the  travellers  then  beheld  was 
superb.  It  was  about  11  a.  m.  in  London,  and  Eu- 
rope was  spread  before  them  like  a  map.  All  its 
peninsulas  and  islands,  enclosed  blue  seas,  and  bays 
came  out  in  clear  relief.    Gradually  Eussia,  Germany, 


474  A  JOURNF.Y   IN   OTHER   WORLDS. 

France,  the  British  Isles,  and  Spain  moved  towards 
tlie  horizon,  as  in  grand  procession,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  Western  hemisphere  appeared.  The  hour 
of  day  at  the  longitude  above  which  they  hung  was 
about  the  same  as  when  they  set  out,  but  the  sun 
shone  far  more  directly  upon  the  Northern  hemi- 
sphere than  then,  and  instead  of  bleak  December,  this 
was  the  leafy  month  of  June. 

They  were  loath  to  end  the  lovely  scene,  and 
would  fain  have  remained  where  they  were  while  the 
earth  revolved  again ;  but,  remembering  that  their 
friends  must  by  this  time  be  waiting,  they  shut  off 
the  repulsion  from  the  earth. 

''  AVe  need  not  apply  the  apergy  to  the  earth  until 
quite  near,"  said  Ayrault,  "  since  a  great  part  of  the 
top  speed  will  be  taken  off  by  the  resistance  of  the 
atmosphere,  especially  as  we  go  in  base  first.  We 
have  only  to  keep  a  sufficiently  strong  repulsion 
on  the  dome  to  prevent  our  turning  over,  and  to 
see  that  our  speed  is  not  great  enough  to  heat  the 
car." 

When  about  fifty  miles  from  the  surface  they  felt 
the  expected  check,  and  concluded  they  had  reached 
the  upper  limits  of  the  atmosphere.     And   this  in- 


The  return. 


MOTHER  EARTH.  475 

creased,  notwithstanding  tlie  decrease  in  their  speed, 
showing  how  quickly  the  air  became  dense. 

When  about  a  mile  from  the  earth  they  liad  the 
Callisto  well  in  hand,  and  allowed  it  to  descend  slow- 
ly. The  ground  was  already  black  with  people,  who, 
havinir  learned  where  the  Callisto  was  to  touch,  had 
hastened  to  Yan  Cortland t  Park. 

"  I  am  overjoyed  to  see  you,"  said  Sylvia,  when 
she  and  Ayrault  met.  "I  had  the  most  dreadful 
presentiment  that  something  had  gone  wrong  with 
you.  One  afternoon  and  evening  I  was  so  perplexed, 
and  during  the  night  had  a  series  of  nightmares  that 
I  shall  never  forget.  I  really  believed  you  were  near 
me,  but  your  nature  seemed  to  have  changed,  for, 
instead  of  its  making  me  happy,  I  was  frightfully 
distressed.  The  next  day  I  was  very  ill,  and  unable 
to  get  up ;  but  during  the  morning  I  fell  asleep  and 
had  another  dream,  which  was  intensely  realistic  and 
made  me  believe — yes,  convinced  me — that  you  were 
well.  After  that  dream  I  soon  recovered ;  but  oh, 
the  anguish  of  the  first !  " 

Ayrault  did  not  tell  her  then  that  he  had  been 

near  her,  and  of  his  unspeakable  suffering,  of  which 

hers  had  been  but  the  echo. 
31 


476  A  JOURNEY   IN  OTHER  WORLDS. 

Three  weeks  later  a  clergyman  tied  the  knot  that 
was  to  unite  them  forever. 

"While  Sylvia  and  Ayrault  were  standing  up  to 
receive  the  congratulations  of  their  friends,  Bear- 
warden,  in  shaking  his  hand,  said  : 

"  Remember,  we  have  been  to  neither  Uranus,  nor 
Neptune,  nor  Cassandra,  which  may  be  as  interesting 
as  anything  we  have  seen.  Should  you  want  to  take 
another  trip,  count  me  as  your  humble  servant."  And 
Cortlandt,  following  behind  him.  said  the  same  thing. 

Shortly  after  this,  Sylvia  went  up-stairs  to  change 
her  dress,  and  when  she  cam.e  down  she  and  Ayrault 
set  out  on  their  journey  together  through  life,  amid 
a  chorus  of  cheers  and  a  shower  of  rice. 

Cortlandt  then  returned  to  his  department  at 
Washington,  and  Bearwarden  resumed  his  duties 
with  the  Terrestrial  iVxis  Straightening  Company, 
in  the  presidential  chair. 


FINIS. 


■*i<:^,. 


•^ 


■"*■»■ 


'••N-»i>-'5>.;- 


.^.'^^■^. 


